LTReikšminiai žodžiai: Ideologija; Standartizacija; Lingvistika; Lithuanian Language; Ideology; Standardisation; Linguistics.
ENThis book is the first work to result from the idea to look into the standardisation of the Lithuanian language as ideology. [...] In Lithuania, language (spoken and written communication) is considered to be first and foremost the space of the professional competence of linguists. Kalbininkai, as they are called, are those standardisation theorists and professional gatekeepers (editors, language inspectors) who correct mistakes because they know what language forms are right or, more precisely, correct. [...] Another ideological subject of the analysis is the belief that there is something wrong with the Lithuanian language; incorrect pronunciation or accentuation, an incorrectly constructed phrase, or use of borrowed items may harm the language, so the language must be guarded against them. [...] This book consists of three parts with two chapters each, comprising six chapters in total. The first part mostly analyses ideas of standardisation in the broader theoretical context of European linguistics and the socio-political and cultural settings. The second part is specifically focused on historical analysis of power-related situations in language institutions and different ideological discourses (about the authority of linguists in the period when the standard Lithuanian was established and later on, as well as about language correction practices). In this part, the history of ideas is subjected to reconstructionist and typological interpretation; it is mostly focused on the ideological and cultural policy contexts of Soviet Lithuania. The third part takes a look into the contemporary, post-1990 power structures of standardisation, from the legal regimentation to the practices of language engineering in schools. This part rests on a combination of discourse analysis and socio-cultural reconstruction, while keeping in focus the foundations, content and scope of the analysed ideology.In the first chapter “Ideas and theories of language standardisation”, Loreta Vaicekauskienė provides theoretical premises for the study based on the analysis of two fundamental moments in the (pre)history of linguistics: prescriptivism and the language culture of the Prague Linguistic Circle. [...] In the chapter “Language as the Target of Disciplinary Power and Knowledge“, based on the works of Foucault, Nijolė Keršytė analyses the Lithuanian phenomenon of language cultivation and rethinks language control in the broader Western European historical and socio-political context as a part of social control that took shape in 19th century disciplinary Western societies and particularly prospered in 20th century totalitarian states. [...] In the third chapter “Lithuanian normativists and practices of standardisation“ the fight against reality is illustrated with examples of concrete discourses. In the beginning, the central figure in the field of Lithuanian language planning was the authority of the linguist. [...] Eligijus Raila reconstructs the transformation of the authority of linguists. In interwar Independent Lithuania linguistic authority was individual and naturally accepted in society; during the Soviet period it became collective, institutionalized. [...] Giedrius Subačius shows in the succeeding sections how the linguists of the Soviet period joined efforts to systematically try to implement a homogeneous linguistic reality; all people were thought to be able to and had to learn to write in the same ways, and had to use the standardized language everywhere and anytime in writing and even speaking. [...] Institutional self-consciousness of normativists is as illusionary as their self-esteem, as Nerijus Šepetys shows in the fourth chapter “Ideological origins of standardisation institutions“. Lithuanian language planners only acquired political power in contemporary Lithuania. [...].The fifth chapter “Post-Soviet language cultivation as a monopoly of power" analyses two specific forms of standardisation-related self-consciousness and practices applied in contemporary Lithuanian language planning: national legislation on state language and the functioning of the implementing institution, The State Language Inspectorate. Paulius Subačius’ analysis of national legislation 1989-2013 shows how the original political ambition to maximally expand the domains of public use of Lithuanian as the state language and to encourage its use among ethnic minorities metamorphosed into a universal requirement of correct language use. [...] Tomas Vaiseta analyses the functioning of the Language Inspectorate as a normalized practice, where he finds a disciplinary structure and a strictly formalized understanding of language. [...] In the sixth chapter “Framework of contemporary Lithuanian language engineering” Loreta Vaicekauskienė presents a generalized picture of “language nationalisation“. She shows how at the beginning of independence, when language regulation was formally legalized at the state level, the sphere of influence of language gatekeepers was extended. [...] Institutional interests are particularly clear in the analysis of language ideology in the educational system. Education is considered to be the most favourable environment for cleansing the language of undesirable elements, as well as for dissemination of the ideas of language engineering. [...] Systematic analysis of control and propaganda of the Lithuanian language exposes the official language ideology as manipulative mass social engineering with a strong reproductive potential. In this respect Lithuania still retains a post-colonial mentality with rich layers of empirical data for cultural history and anthropology studies about the influence of (post) totalitarian social engineering on transformation of ideas and practices in societes susceptible to prescriptivism.