In my last entry I promised ( threatened ? ) to write something about the inroads being made by the English language into the German cultural fields. I have not yet worked on the compendium of words and phrases which come directly from the English and threaten the German communication, since this threat/enrichment does not only come from the spoken word, but from daily custom and a variety of cultural fields:
Think about Music, for instance: Besides the Classical composers, not much has happened in Austria, which did not come directly from, or was not strongly influenced by America. The only energetic, vibrant new direction in this field, Jazz, came directly from there. I will not enter upon a dissertation about Jazz, where its roots lay, or where its constituents parts originated. Suffice to say that it came in its final form from the land across the sea. All popular music produced here finds its origin there.
Think about film. Although there surely were a number of very good movies produced in Germany/Austria
(Even some Oscar winners )
the bulk of this remarkable art form has come from Hollywood and its derivative production centers.
Again with some notable exceptions it was the English language areas which created the best actors, male and female.
Think about Advertising: An advertising flyer, which I picked up today, inserted in the daily "Currier", a news paper which is bought by and delivered to almost exclusively German speaking readers, offers this on its front page:
Cool Winter Sale
Shopping City Sued / Eingang 3 und 8
Appealing Quality
In this 10 word headline, fully 6 are English, one, Winter, is bi-lingual and only 3 are purely German.
( One could of course say that 4 words are German )
I have already, earlier on mentioned the disappearance of the Austrian "Christkindl" and the appearance of "Santa Claus", as well as the souvenier-selling "Dom Shop".
This, or similar uses of the English Language can be found in every daily paper .
If I were an Austrian Citizen, I would really get worried by the obvious recognition that a strong culture seems to be assimilating a weaker one.
Well, tonight I will visit the "Kursalon" and listen to a Concert of two indisputable and outstanding Austrian composers, both of an era gone by :
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Johann Strauss Jr..
Two composers who need not fear being anglicized.
Bertstravel
looks forward to this concert
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