Languages of government and government of languages: German versus ‘national’ languages in the eastern confines of the Habsburg monarchy in the 18th century

Langues de gouvernement et gouvernement des langues: l’allemand face aux langues ‘nationales’ dans les confins orientaux de la monarchie habsbourgeoise au XVIIIe siecle

Benjamin Landais (1, 2)

1 CNELIAS - Centre Norbert Elias
2 AU - Avignon Université

In the Austrian Habsburg Monarchy, the relationship between the activity of the imperial chancellery and local administration, where language diversity was at its highest point, was hardly thought of before the era of nationalism. The certification of deeds had to be done in German or in Latin. This principle required the recruitment of many sworn interpreters. The use of translation turned out to be very expensive in outlying regions. For this reason, this system was completed by two other mechanisms based on the linguistic skills of imperial officers: the registration of private documents issued in a court language – Italian or French – and the awkward use of the socalled ‘national’ languages, such as Hungarian, Serbian, or Romanian, as oral languages of command. This dual system became rapidly obsolete due to legislative inflation. However, it contributed to the political legitimation of the coexistence of the Emperor’s language and that of his subjects.

Mots clés: Austrian Habsburg; Vernacularisation; Local Administration

Domaines: Histoire

Benjamin Landais. Langues de gouvernement et gouvernement des langues: l’allemand face aux langues ‘nationales’ dans les confins orientaux de la monarchie habsbourgeoise au XVIIIe siecle. Il re e le sue lingue: Comunicazione e imperialità / Le roi et ses langues: Communication et impérialité, Basilicata University Press, pp.147-174, 2023, 978-88-31309-20-2. ⟨hal-03974222⟩