Research Questions

The main questions raised by the proposed project are: (I) how can postcards provide evidence of an intensifying linguistic and ethnic polarization in the region under discussion and (II) on the other hand, how are bilingualism and national indifference also represented by postcards. (Judson: 2006). Applying an interdisciplinary approach at the intersection of history, linguistics, and visual culture studies in order to take advantage of the value of the multilayered nature of postcards, issues such as the following will be addressed in detail:

• The starting point of the analysis will be the search for evidence of conspicuous clusters in the geographical distribution of specific phenomena on postcards. Where does exclusively German or exclusively Slovene writing prevail? Where does bilingual writing prevail? Can the difference in the distribution structure of the Slovene-speaking and German-speaking populations be related to their representations on postcards or is there no correlation?

• Which historical agents and which different interest groups were at the origin of the postcard’s production and reception? Did the proportion of local publishers and printing companies increase within the given time frame and did this increase correspond to a shift in the representation of language on postcards?

• With regard to the visual representations on postcards of Lower Styria, is there also evidence of a struggle between different codes of meaning? Did German and Slovene postcards symbolically stage specific topics or motifs? Or do we have widely shared visual discourses? Is the work of differentiation instead located on the level of linguistic appropriation?

• How is language use on postcards related to identity? In Lower Styria, language use was linked not only to ethnic factors, but also to factors of social status and to the general use of German as a lingua franca. How did the writer’s uses of language diverge according to their social backgrounds? To what extent can postcards provide information about diglossia and/or bilingualism in Lower Styria?

• With regard to Slovene studies, questions regarding the emerging standardized and canonized written Slovene language as compared and contrasted to the dominant German language are of particular relevance. Which diverging forms and varieties of orthography and grammar occur on postcards, and how can they be analyzed?