Verbal anti-Semitism on the Internet: a linguistic corpus analysis of forms of transmission of current hatred towards Jews in the World Wide Web

• Applicant: Professorin Dr. Monika Schwarz-Friesel
• Subject Area: General and Comparative Linguistics, Experimental Linguistics, Typology, Non-European Languages
• Term: from 2014 to 2020
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 254862740

Anti-Semitic attitudes in Germany are not just a historical, but an unchanged current phenomenon, which occurs on all levels of society, and not just on the extreme right. This alarming discovery, confirmed by research, has led to a corresponding discussion on the governmental level: in 2011 the Bundestag commissioned a panel of experts to write a report with the title Anti-Semitism in Germany. Forms of appearance, conditions, ideas for prevention. This report, that was presented in January 2012, problematized in this context the presence of this so-called every day anti-Semitism. It represents a category, which until now was rarely recognised, of recording (and combating) current animosity towards Jews. It is, however, difficult to be identified because until the present day it has been reproduced in indirect and partly unconsciously created utterances as it is wide-spread and deeply rooted in society. But how exactly this reproduction of anti-Semitic attitudes all over society takes place and what role language and the modern media play, has been barely analysed in contemporary research. In this project, we want to act on this desideratum, by analysing - in a linguistic way - the grey zones of verbal anti-Semitism; the many forms of indirect verbalisation which are not immediately recognisable as an expression of anti-Jewish stereotypes, and how they are transmitted in modern times. We can handle the problem of the grey zones with the help of exact linguistic analysis. Concerning transmission, we assume that the medium of internet plays an especially important role for the (re)production of verbal anti-Semitism. Due to the specifics of its communication, clear anti-Semitic utterances can be formulated, despite the taboo post-1945, and brought into the centre of society, so that corresponding attitudes become established in the main public discourse. These processes, which happen on the level of language, have already been recognised - the strongly required detailed research can however only be done with the help of exact and extensive analysis, that will be realised by this project. With the analysis of the use of language this project clearly differentiates itself from standard research of anti-Semitism and can provide important impulses to it and other areas of research.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• International Connection: Israel
• Participating Person: Professorin Dr. Ruth Amossy