Chapter 7. The politics of place-making and belonging through language choice within center-periphery dynamics in Limburg, The Netherlands
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Lotte Thissen
Abstract
This contribution analyses a case of carnival celebration in Maasniel, Limburg, the Netherlands, a village that was annexed as a neighborhood of the larger city of Roermond in 1959. During the event, the Dutch ritual of Sinterklaas was combined with the carnival celebration, resulting in a staged language conflict between Dutch and dialect. I argue that this language conflict was used by the actors on stage to engage in the politics of place-making and belonging. These politics express who and what practices are perceived as in and out of place during this particular carnival event. I show that the actors of the event, through Bakhtinian carnivalesque manners, centralize the carnival celebration, dialect use, and Maasniel while peripheralizing Sinterklaas celebration practices, the use of Dutch, and the city of Roermond. I argue that the eventual switch from Dutch to dialect may be considered as a way to resist and subvert dominant center-periphery ideas.
Abstract
This contribution analyses a case of carnival celebration in Maasniel, Limburg, the Netherlands, a village that was annexed as a neighborhood of the larger city of Roermond in 1959. During the event, the Dutch ritual of Sinterklaas was combined with the carnival celebration, resulting in a staged language conflict between Dutch and dialect. I argue that this language conflict was used by the actors on stage to engage in the politics of place-making and belonging. These politics express who and what practices are perceived as in and out of place during this particular carnival event. I show that the actors of the event, through Bakhtinian carnivalesque manners, centralize the carnival celebration, dialect use, and Maasniel while peripheralizing Sinterklaas celebration practices, the use of Dutch, and the city of Roermond. I argue that the eventual switch from Dutch to dialect may be considered as a way to resist and subvert dominant center-periphery ideas.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Chapter 1. Introduction 1
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Part I. Interpersonal relations, place, and belonging
- Chapter 2. The boundaries of belonging 17
- Chapter 3. Language socialization and making sense of place 27
- Chapter 4. Cité Duits 55
- Chapter 5. Us, them and all the others 89
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Part II. Parodic performances from the margins
- Chapter 6. Playing against peripheralization 115
- Chapter 7. The politics of place-making and belonging through language choice within center-periphery dynamics in Limburg, The Netherlands 125
- Chapter 8. Peripheral performances 149
- Chapter 9. What’s up in town 177
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Part III. Agency in linguistic place-making
- Chapter 10. Language, place, agency 207
- Chapter 11. Place-making and dialect 213
- Chapter 12. Alternative place naming in the diverse margins of an ideologically mono-lingual society 239
- Chapter 13. Yooperisms in tourism 261
- Subject index 287
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Chapter 1. Introduction 1
-
Part I. Interpersonal relations, place, and belonging
- Chapter 2. The boundaries of belonging 17
- Chapter 3. Language socialization and making sense of place 27
- Chapter 4. Cité Duits 55
- Chapter 5. Us, them and all the others 89
-
Part II. Parodic performances from the margins
- Chapter 6. Playing against peripheralization 115
- Chapter 7. The politics of place-making and belonging through language choice within center-periphery dynamics in Limburg, The Netherlands 125
- Chapter 8. Peripheral performances 149
- Chapter 9. What’s up in town 177
-
Part III. Agency in linguistic place-making
- Chapter 10. Language, place, agency 207
- Chapter 11. Place-making and dialect 213
- Chapter 12. Alternative place naming in the diverse margins of an ideologically mono-lingual society 239
- Chapter 13. Yooperisms in tourism 261
- Subject index 287
