The Language of Nazi Genocide: Linguistic Violence and the Struggle of Germans of Jewish Ancestry

In the Nazi genocide of European Jews, words preceded, accompanied, and made mass murder possible. Using a multilayered approach to connect official language to everyday life, historian Thomas Pegelow Kaplan analyzes the role of language in genocide. This study seeks to comprehend how the perpetrators constructed difference, race, and their perceived enemies; how Nazi agencies communicated to the public through the nation's press; and how Germans of Jewish ancestry received, contested, and struggled for survival and self against remarkable odds. The Language of Nazi Genocide covers the historical periods of the late Weimar Republic, the Nazi regime, and early postwar Germany. However, by addressing the architecture of conceptual separation between groups and the means by which social aggression is disseminated, this study offers a model for comparative studies of linguistic violence, hate speech, and genocide in the modern world.

Author: Thomas Pegelow Kaplan
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 08/29/2011
Pages: 322
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.95lbs
Size: 9.10h x 6.10w x 0.90d
ISBN13: 9781107650572
ISBN10: 1107650577
BISAC Categories:
- Language Arts & Disciplines | Journalism
- History | Europe | General