The Meta-invective as a Resource: Social Movements as Laboratories of the Invective in the Contemporary History of Germany (O)

• Subject Area: General and Comparative Linguistics, Experimental Linguistics, Typology, Non-European Languages
• Term: Funded in 2017
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 317232170

The project analyses the invective as a resource in public debates triggered by social movements in the recent history of Germany. It investigates how claims of the invective character of certain utterances are strategically used to spark a debate about the social and cultural factors, which facilitate insulting and dis¬criminatory behaviour and in doing so make the social order an object of reflection. The project takes its start from the assumption, that social movements use invective behaviour and accusations of i.e. dis¬crimination and racism to intentionally trigger meta-invective debates, which not only aim to shift the boundary between invective and non-invective behaviour but also trigger a shift in the perception of the socio-cultural order.

• DFG Programme: Collaborative Research Centres
• Subproject of: SFB 1285: Invectivity. Constellations and Dynamics of disparagement
• Applicant Institution: Technische Universität Dresden
• Project Head: Professor Dr. Joachim Scharloth