Language and Politics: Turkish Language Reform
In: The review of politics, Band 26, Heft 2, S. 191-204
ISSN: 1748-6858
The close relation between language and politics was noted by George Orwell many years ago. Undoubtedly, no other political phenomenon brings this relationship more sharply into focus than that of nationalism."In our time, the national community has assumed paramount power," notes Frederick Hertz. Along with this development, "the national language has become one of the idols of a new religion. All nations regard it as a symbol of their independence and honour, as the supreme expression of their personality, and they esteem its exclusive domination within their national territory more highly than obvious spiritual and material advantages." Indeed, language has been widely (though in some cases erroneously) accepted as one of the prime indicators of national identity.