The Language of Othering in a Diverse Europe

This book explores how language is used to create division and discrimination in diverse European societies by emphasizing differences in ethnicity, race, national identity, beliefs, or appearance. The authors analyze how public discourse—particularly in political and media narratives—shapes and reinforces an “us vs. them” mindset. They examine words and expressions that denigrate or marginalize specific groups in Polish, German, Czech, Slovak, and Croatian, and observe how certain communities are also reclaiming terms that were once hurtful. The analyses of linguistic strategies employed in the process of othering demonstrate that the concept of othering can be effectively applied to linguistic data.

Contributors are: Dagmara Banasiak, Marta Chojnacka-Kuraś, Marta Falkowska, Jadranka Gvozdanović, Milena Hebal-Jezierska, Agnieszka Karlińska, Anna Kołos, Marie Kopřivová, Marek Łaziński, Jadwiga Linde-Usiekniewicz, Agnieszka Mikołajczuk, Iva Petrak, Jiří Rejzek, Lucie Saicová Římalová, Łukasz Wnuk, and Magdalena Zawisławska.

Marta Falkowska is an assistant professor of linguistics at the University of Warsaw. Her research focuses mainly on lexical semantics and cognitive grammar. She coordinated the SEED4EU+ project “Naming for Othering in a Diversified Europe”. Her forthcoming monograph deals with the concept of EMPATHY in Polish.
Jadwiga Linde-Usiekniewiczis a professor of linguistics at the University of Warsaw. Lately, her research has focused largely on hate speech phenomena and non-discriminatory (inclusive) language, as well as sign language lexicology and lexicography.