Linguistic practices of coal mining communities in the post-industrial era: variation, documentation, representation, regeneration

• Antragstellerinnen: Dr. Nantke Pecht; Professorin Dr. Evelyn Ziegler
• Fachliche Zuordnung: Angewandte Sprachwissenschaften, Computerlinguistik ; Einzelsprachwissenschaften, Historische Linguistik
• Förderung: Förderung seit 2024
• Projektkennung: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Projektnummer 547531597

This international project will examine coal mining language through acomparative exploration of the Ruhr Area (Germany) and the EastMidlands (UK), both historically important mining regions. These areashave been selected because they share a common period of coal mining,beginning in the 18th century and ending around the same time (in 2018and 2015 respectively). As with other post-industrial regions of Europe,they have developed varied strategies to find new senses of identity,community and belonging. While regeneration through local miningheritage has been beneficial, less tangible forms of cultural heritage,notably language, have been chronically overlooked. We will advanceknowledge of the diverse factors determining the usage, maintenance andemblematic value of mining languages, whilst developing and sharingeffective approaches for preserving and conveying this endangeredvaluable heritage through local communities and museums.The project has the following aims and objectives:• Investigating linguistic variation of mining language on the levels ofthe individual and their community and comparatively between theregions using quantitative and qualitative methods• Systematically documenting salient linguistic features and usage toensure the preservation of such linguistic varieties• Ensuring the effective representation of linguistic mining heritagethrough collaboration with local mining communities and museums• Analysing the role of mining language in nurturing and supportingregeneration strategies for informing how intangible cultural heritagecan support successful place-based regenerationWe will pursue these objectives by initiating a multi-method design, witha particular focus on linguistic data from communicative interactions,lexical usage and visual representation of language. These methods arerooted in sociolinguistics, combining variationist linguistics, attitudinaland linguistic-landscape analyses to ensure the conservation of thesecultural assets.The Ruhr Area and the East Midlands offer a unique opportunity for asystematic comparative-contrastive analysis to respond to the significantgap in research on the linguistic practices of former mining communities.The complex array of differences and similarities between these two postindustrialregions will facilitate an in-depth evaluation of key factorsdetermining the vitality, value and symbolic meaning of mining languagefor local communities across different national and linguistic contextsboth in Europe and beyond. The international comparison, collaborationand knowledge transfer will expand our capacity to identify key factorsdetermining the local value and symbolic significance of mining languagein the respective communities, especially in terms of sense of belongingand local heritage amid industrial decline. Findings will feed intoregeneration efforts in these regions by demonstrating the value ofintangible heritage, notably language.

• DFG-Verfahren: Sachbeihilfen
• Internationaler Bezug: Großbritannien
• Partnerorganisation: Arts and Humanities Research Council
• Kooperationspartnerin: Professorin Natalie Braber, Ph.D.