Volumes

Journal for German and Scandinavian Studies Special thematic issue, Volume 1, 2025

Special thematic issue dedicated to the 100th anniversary of German Philology at Sofia University St. Kliment Ohridski, Vol. 1

To download an article, click on its title.

Volume editors: Mikaela Petkova-Kessanlis, Radka Ivanova, Reneta Kileva-Stamenova, Svetlana Arnaudova, Maria Endreva

Publication date: April 24, 2025

ISSN: 2815-2867

doi: https://doi.org/10.60055/GerSk.2025.izv.1

Content (in German)

Author list

Foreword to the issue (in German)

Part 1: LINGUISTICS

Introduction to Part 1 (in German)

Mikaela Petkova-Kessanlis Sofia University St. Kliment Ohridski (Bulgaria)

Einleitung zum Teil 1: Sprachwissenschaft

GENRE CHANGE AS EXPRESSION AND PLACE OF ORIGIN OF CULTURE

Martin Luginbühl University of Basel (Switzerland)

doi: https://doi.org/10.60055/GerSk.2025.izv.1.23-50

Genre change is interwoven with cultural change: The emergence as well as the proliferation or change of genres is interrelated with communicative needs, which in turn are based on the (changing) norms and values of a communicative community. Social or technical changes are not only reflected in the design of genres and entire genre profiles of a communicative community, but values, norms and world views are also negotiated in and through genres and their design. On a theoretical level, the article explores why genres change, how this is related to cultural change and how change can be located in a larger context of genre profiles. In a second part, these considerations are illustrated using the example of genres of the Swiss TV news show “Tagesschau” from the 1950s to the present day, with a focus on the emergence of the package.

Keywords: genres, genre change, genre profiles, culturality, TV news shows

INTERNET-MEMES AS DISCOURSE NARRATIVE TEXTUAL FORMS OF (RE-)TELLING ON THE INTERNET. A CHALLENGE FOR THE NOTIONS OF TEXT AND TEXT GENRE

Georg Weidacher Karl-Franzens-University Graz (Austria)

doi: https://doi.org/10.60055/GerSk.2025.izv.1.51-75

Internet memes are an emergent form of text that has developed through the use of affordances of the internet and its individual platforms. They are characterized on the one hand by their viral dissemination in discourses, and on the other by their formal, substantially multimodal design and their prototypical functionality. This article exemplarily analyzes an internet meme that can be assigned to the genre of “conspiracy narrative internet memes.” In the course of this analysis, it is shown to what extent the definition and contouring of this genre can be problematized, especially due to the peculiarities of the internet and its usage. Consequently, both the traditional concept of genre and that of text are to be questioned in light of this new form of text.

Keywords: internet-memes, text, genre, narrative, conspiracy narrative

TEXT GENRE, COMMUNICATIVE GENRE OR MEDIA FORMAT? OLD WINE IN NEW BOTTLES?

Anna Hanus, Marta Smykala University of Rzeszów (Poland)

doi: https://doi.org/10.60055/GerSk.2025.izv.1.76-92

Abstract patterns of complex symbols that facilitate and shape the processing of given forms of communication are primarily associated by linguists, communication scholars, and media researchers with terms such as text genre [Textsorte], communicative genre [kommunikative Gattung], or media format [Medienformat]. Our goal is to illuminate these terms from various perspectives: to show relationships between them, and to highlight their potential interpretations that might enable their differentiation.

Keywords: format, genre, type, media, communication

„BUCH“, „HÖRBUCH“, „E-BOOK“ & CO. LEXICAL CHANGE AND LEMMA UPDATE OF A GERMAN LEARNER´S DICTIONARY PORTAL

Zita Hollós Károli Gáspár University of the Reformed Church (Hungary)

doi: https://doi.org/10.60055/GerSk.2025.izv.1.93-119

In the course of the digitalisation of everyday life and communication, traditional media such as books, letters, radio and television, to name but a few, are gradually fading into the background. The objects of our cultural epoch, that of the 20th century, are gradually being replaced by immaterial phenomena. Young people use these and also the words that describe them, such as Hörbuch, Audiobook, E-Book or E-Mail, Post, Like and various online or on-demand products on a daily basis and also in dealing with social media. What does this mean for the maintenance of a learner dictionary portal for German as a foreign language such as E-KOLLEX DAF? Which data needs to be updated first so that this resource continues to appeal to young people and remains up to date? Which dictionary portals and tools or corpus statistics can help lexicographers to update the lemma inventory, initially for the “Media” topic area? Answers to these questions are sought in the following article.

Keywords: neologisms, media, lemma collection, dictionary portal, GFL

ON THE CHANGE IN TEXT TYPE PROFILES IN THE VOSSISCHE ZEITUNG AND THE BERLINER ZEITUNG OVER THE LAST ONE HUNDRED YEARS

Hartmut Lenk University of Helsinki (Finnland)

doi: https://doi.org/10.60055/GerSk.2025.izv.1.120-146

The study examines how the text type profile has developed in one Berlin daily newspaper each from 1923 to 1933 (Vossische Zeitung) and from 1945 to 2023 (Berliner Zeitung). The text type repertoire and the text type frequency are analysed in one issue per decade. The analysis shows that only a few different text types were used in the newspaper editions in the first third of the 20th century, while their number increased significantly in the period after the Second World War. Reports continue to be the most common text type, while image-emphasised text types increase significantly after 1945. A noticeable change can also be seen in other classes of newspaper text types. The changes in the text type profiles are obviously related to a change in the function of the daily newspaper in the media structure.

Keywords: daily newspaper, text types in the press, classification of text types, change of text types

AN IMPORTANT INNOVATION IN THE AREA OF ОLD HIGH GERMAN SYNTAX AND ITS GENESIS. OBSERVATIONS BASED ON THE OLD HIGH GERMAN TATIAN

Emilia Dentschewa Sofia University St. Kliment Ohridski (Bulgaria)

doi: https://doi.org/10.60055/GerSk.2025.izv.1.147-169

The basic features of the syntactic system of German can already be found in Germanic. Two essential factors determine the further development of syntax – the effect of the Germanic final sound laws as a result of the establishment of the strongly dynamic accent on the first syllable of the word (initial accent) and the increasingly complicated linguistic communication in the course of social development. On the one hand, the changes in the wording led to a violation of the functional-grammatical clarity of many nominal and verbal forms, which led to the emergence of morphological substitute forms for expressing the syntactic connections in the sentence – articles for nouns, subject pronouns for verbs, analytical paraphrases of cases, analytical descriptions of verbal functional units. The need to grasp complex facts (also through language contact) required, on the other hand, a stronger development of parataxis and hypotaxis, as well as a stronger consolidation of word order. In the context of this article, attention is focused on the state of development of the nominal-verbal sentence with regard to the explicit subject indexing in the Old High German translation of Tatian from the first half of the 9th century. The observations arose in connection with the work on the creation of the “Linguistic Key to Old High German Tatian” (based on the edition by Eduard Sievers) which was published in December 2023 by the University Press „St. Kliment Ohridski“ Sofia. It is emphasized that the extremely frequent autonomous use of the subject pronoun in Tahd can obviously be seen as the result of a rule for explicitly identifying the pronominal subject that is already well established. In modern German, this rule will dictate mandatory pronominal subject indexing. Finally, it is pointed out that the development of the analytical type of personal indication in Old High German must be viewed as a late consequence of the imposition of a dynamic word-initial stress in Germanic.

Keywords: Old High German Tatian, subject indexing in Old High German, development of the analytical type of personal indication in Old High German, pronominal subject indexing in Old High German Tatian, genesis of explicit pronominal subject indexing

OFF-TEXTS IN TELEVISION REPORTAGES AS A VARIETY? CHARACTERISTICS OF A PROFESSIONAL TELEVISION LANGUAGE IN THE CONTEXT OF CURRENT CHANGES

Hans Gießen Saarland University, Saarbrücken (Germany), Jan Kochanowski University in Kielce (Poland)

doi: https://doi.org/10.60055/GerSk.2025.izv.1.170-186

Television language – i.e. not on-screen conversations, but written texts combined acoustically with moving images – has specific properties that suggest it is a genre in its own right. Professional television writers know and use the characteristic rules of this genre. In a first step, television language will be described. In a next step, a significant change in the use of this specific genre language will be described. Its cause is technical change which in turn has had social and economic consequences. The focus lies on television texts for digital channels whose authors have no journalistic training, neither know the reasons for the rules of the television language genre, nor do they know how to apply them. The hypothesis would therefore be that a difference in the use of language can be observed between the authors of professional television news and the authors from the context of the digital providers. This will be shown by means of an empirical comparison of news from a large public broadcaster and a small private (regional) digital broadcaster.

Keywords: television texts, grammar, lexis, media adequacy, multimodality

LEXICAL DYNAMICS IN COVID-19 VACCINATION DISCOURSE: A CONTRASTIVE EMPIRICAL STUDY GERMAN/FRENCH

Hélène Vinckel-Roisin Université de Lorraine ATILF – Analyse et Traitement Informatique de la Langue Française [UMR 7118 – CNRS & UL] (France)

doi: https://doi.org/10.60055/GerSk.2025.izv.1.187-228

This paper explores the productivity of German (-)impf- (e.g., Impfautarkie, Impfgrüße, verimpfen, zwangsimpfen, impfwillig) and its French equivalent (-) vaccin- (e.g., antivaccin, vaccinodrome, candidat-vaccin, le [N] vaccinal) in newspapers surrounding Covid-19 vaccination, as a sign of specific lexical dynamics between “traditionˮ and “innovationˮ. It is widely acknowledged that German and French exhibit fundamentally different preferences in word formation processes. This study examines how these preferences manifest themselves in the journalistic discourse surrounding Covid-19 vaccination on both sides of the Rhine. The investigation focuses on the linguistic representation of “vaccination events” following the development of the first Covid-19 vaccine in November 2020. The analysis is based on an inductive data-driven corpus study, with an emphasis on nouns, adjectives and verbs. Special attention is given to the resulting (-) impf- and (-)vaccin– formations which may emerge to name new everyday phenomena resulting from the so-called coronavirus crisis.

Keywords: Word formation processes, neologisms, contrastive media linguistics (German-French), TXM

THE ACADEMIC OBITUARY – A TYPE OF TEXT IN A CHANGING STYLE?

Mikaela Petkova-Kessanlis Sofia University St. Kliment Ohridski (Bulgaria)

doi: https://doi.org/10.60055/GerSk.2025.izv.1.229-251

The aim of this article is to provide an example of a development in the text type of academic obituary that has the potential to bring about a change in style. These are obituaries of scientists that are published on the university’s own websites in the name of the university as an institution. Since these obituaries are not identified by name, it can be assumed that their authors do not have a close relationship with the deceased and are carrying out a mandatory task by writing an obituary. For this reason, among other things, but also because the university strives to ensure equal treatment of its professors, the recourse to formulaicness is characteristic of these texts. This distinguishes them from prototypical obituaries written by members of the scientific community.

Keywords: obituary, academics, formulaicness, change of style, type of text

INFORMATION DENSITY AND THE PREDICTABILITY OF PHONETIC STRUCTURE

Bistra Andreeva, Bernd Möbius, Ivan Yuen, Omnia Ibrahim Saarland University (Germany)

doi: https://doi.org/10.60055/GerSk.2025.izv.1.252-267

The study investigates the relation between information density and linguistic encoding in phonetics and human speech processing. Information density of a linguistic unit is defined in terms of surprisal (the unit’s negative log probability in a given context). The effects of surprisal on phonetic encoding have been examined with respect to various aspects such as the formant trajectories of vowels, the voicing of plosives, syllable duration, and vowel dispersion (also in L2), considering control factors of prosodic structure and potential interactions with the Lombard effect and the prosodic structure. The results suggest that speakers adjust phonetic details to maintain a balance between information density and phonetic encoding.

Keywords: surprisal, formants, Lombard effect, voicing, L2

EYECATCHER ON WEBSITES OF POLISH AND GERMAN PUBLIC NEWS PROGRAMMES – ON WAR-CENTERED REPORTING

Iwona Szwed University of Rzeszów (Poland)

doi: https://doi.org/10.60055/GerSk.2025.izv.1.268-291

In public media, the focus increasingly aims at the visual perception rather than the purely verbal communication. Hybrid forms of communication combining linear and nonlinear features have come to offer a way of reducing information into easily accessible and comprehensible text-image units that are intended to capture readers’ attention and interest, and encourage further reading. The paper uses topos analysis methods to examine how eye-catchers (teasers and thumbnails) on internet sites of Polish and German public news programmes present the war in Ukraine and the concomitant social anxiety from a contrastive perspective. In addition, the question of whether the ambiguity of images is intensified or reduced in the case of such a sensitive topic will also be investigated.

Keywords: Contrastive media linguistics, news coverage, eye-catcher, teaser, thumbnail, topos analysis.

RHETORICAL AND ARGUMENTATIVE MEANS IN THE GERMAN–POLISH DISCOURSE AHEAD OF THE 2023 POLISH PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS

Jarochna Dąbrowska-Burkhardt University of Zielona Góra (Poland)

doi: https://doi.org/10.60055/GerSk.2025.izv.1.292-312

The political and discourse linguistic article identifies and analyzes the functioning of the underlying linguistic and multimodal patterns in the transnational discourse on the parliamentary elections held in Poland on 15 October 2023. The focus of the investigation is an image of Germany that is conveyed in Poland’s public television programs during the 2023 election campaign. It is not only constituted verbally, but also represents a complex semiotic system. The applied methodology of discourse analysis makes it possible to describe concrete linguistic units and to clarify their conceptual-semantic nature and their function in the discourse.

Keywords: media discourse, German-Polish discourse, politolinguistics, linguistic discourse analysis, argumentation patterns

Part 2: Deutsch als Fremdsprache

Introduction to Part 2

Radka Ivanova Sofia University St. Kliment Ochridski (Bulgaria)

Introduction to Part II.

(LITERATURE-)SCIENTIFIC CONTENT IN GERMAN AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE-STUDIES – COMPATIBLE OR EXCLUSIVE?

Feruzan Gündogar Marmara University (Türkiye)

doi: https://doi.org/10.60055/GerSk.2025.izv.1.317-335

Literary studies in German as a foreign language-studies were and are again the subject of various discussions. In this context, Michael Dobstadt advocates for a minimum level of literary studies in every German as a foreign language course of study and thus addresses this sore point in Germa as a foreign language research and teaching, which not only relates to the question of how much literary studies is in German as a foreign Language limited, but fundamentally addresses the level of scientific demands of a professional and practice-oriented training. It is widely known that teacher training almost always focuses on balancing theory and practice. However, the attitudes towards the weighting of the theoretical and practical parts vary, i.e. more theory at the expense of professional competence or vice versa, the practical relevance in the selective connection with theoretical content. The article is not intended as a continuation of this discussion, but rather as a suggestion for an expanded literary component of the German as a foreign language study program. A possible concept is presented in part. In this sense, the article affirms the importance of an increased focus on literary aspects in German as a foreign language and argues that literary content and topics should be taken into account more comprehensively in teaching.

Keywords: Literary studies, teacher training, German as a foreign language, professionalization

ON THE WAY TO PARTICIPATION CULTURALLY REFLECTIVE GFL-LESSONS THROUGH THE USE OF LITERATURE

Radka Ivanova Sofia University St. Kliment Ohridski (Bulgaria)

doi: https://doi.org/10.60055/GerSk.2025.izv.1.336-362

Migration, as an integral part of our human condition, represents a diverse, timeless, and global historical phenomenon that is accompanied by profound transformations in the lives of both the migrating individuals and the societies involved in the migration processes. In light of this ongoing, experiential personal and societal change, it raises the question of what spaces for equal participation emerge from the interaction between immigrants and societies, and to what extent immigrants (cannot/do not) utilize the options available and arrangeable in society for self-determined living, for a socially integrated life based on their individual goals and life concepts. Against this backdrop, the focus of this article – drawing on the concept of participation and using a literary text – is on the migrant path to participation. Thus, questions about the self-responsible design of living environments, the ongoing negotiation of affiliations and action-guiding, future-oriented identities, about „settling in“ and „making a home“ move to the center of the discussion on the contentious issues of integration, inclusion and diversity. The article is therefore a plea for a culture-reflective foreign language and GFL/GSL-lessons (German as a Foreign or Second Language), in which the complexity of today’s world is taken into account through the use of literature and learners are encouraged to participate creatively and actively in society.

Keywords: migration, change, participation, use of literature in culturally reflective GFL/GSL-lessons

GERMAN LANGUAGE TEACHING AND SUSTAINABILITY – APPROACHING THEORY AND PRACTICE

Paul Voerkel, Xingyu Zhong Schmalkalden University for Applied Science & University of Jena (Germany)

doi: https://doi.org/10.60055/GerSk.2025.izv.1.363-388

The concept of sustainability is constantly evolving and is therefore having an impact on teaching and its content, meaning that the discussion about its significance for society and education is always necessary and relevant. In this context, this article discusses how sustainability can be integrated into foreign language teaching as a meaningful subject of knowledge in order to promote current teaching approaches. To this end, the origins of the term sustainability and its development into the concept we know today are explained. Two examples will then be used to show how sustainability can be integrated into the initial and in-service training of teachers of German as a foreign language. One of the greatest challenges is the development of educational and teaching competences with regard to sustainable development. Based on theoretical assumptions and practical examples, various possibilities are shown for teaching foreign languages from a new perspective and thus organising learning in a meaningful and context-related way.

Key words: Sustainability, Foreign language teaching and learning, Meaningful learning, Sustainable development, German as a foreign language

DIGITAL TEACHING AND LEARNING METHODS IN LESSONS OF VOCATIONAL GERMAN AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE

Maximilian Döhner Technical Universiy of Sofia (Bulgaria)

doi: https://doi.org/10.60055/GerSk.2025.izv.1.389-405

The article addresses the use of digital media in teaching of vocational German as a foreign language and, in addition to a general overview of digital tools in foreign language lessons, also provides an assessment of which aspects of the use of digital media should be taken into account in vocational foreign language lessons. In addition, the didactic concepts “internet-rally” and “digital escape rooms” in vocational language teaching are presented as concrete examples of use. The conclusion presents some experiences of using these teaching and learning methods in lessons of German as a foreign language and German regional studies at the Technical University of Sofia. The article mainly focuses on describing the structure and use of the “internet-rally” and “digital escape rooms” and does not evaluate any empirical data.

Keywords: digital media, internet-rally, escape room, vocational language

DIDACTIC CHANGE THROUGH PODCASTS IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE TEACHING – A STUDENT PROJECT

Jacqueline Dyballa Sofia University St. Kliment Ohridski (Bulgaria)

doi: https://doi.org/10.60055/GerSk.2025.izv.1.406-416

This article presents the podcast project to honor the 100th anniversary of German philology at St. Kliment Ohridski University. After a brief overview of the advantages of using podcasts in foreign language teaching, the project is presented in more detail. The individual phases are described: Preparation and planning, as well as production and publication. This is followed by an evaluation of the project from the perspective of both the participants and the teacher. At the end, an idea is given as to the general ways in which podcasts should be given more attention in foreign language teaching and what extensions or follow-up projects can be created with the podcast produced. The main aim of the article is to encourage project-oriented forms of teaching.

Keywords: podcast, project-oriented teaching, new media.

SCHOOL PRACTICES – ONLINE OR LIVE?

Yanka Koeva St. Cyril and St. Methodius Univeristy of Veliko Tarnovo (Bulgaria)

doi: https://doi.org/10.60055/GerSk.2025.izv.1.417-424

After two academic years, during which all school practices were conducted online and “online teachers” were trained, students finally had the opportunity (after the lifting of the Covid-measures) to carry out their educational practice in a real learning environment, which turned out to be difficult after online teacher training and online teaching practice. The paper aims to determine the advantages and disadvantages of both online school practices and “live” internships through a survey. At the same time online learning can no longer be ignored, as it continues to accompany our lives in one form or another.

Keywords: teacher training, school practices, online learning, face-to-face learning, advantages and disadvantage

CIRCULAR MIGRATION AND LANGUAGE SKILLS IN GERMAN – A MULTILINGUAL SELF-LEARNING PORTFOLIO FOR LIVE-IN CARERS

Annegret Middeke Georg-August-University Göttingen (Germany)

doi: https://doi.org/10.60055/GerSk.2025.izv.1.425-441

So-called 24-hour carers, also known as live-in carers, support people in need of care in private households. In Germany, they are mainly women from Eastern Europe. Under the conditions of circular migration, most of them find themselves not only in a legal grey area, but also in a transnational rift characterised by a lack of social participation. A multilingual workplace-related self-learning portfolio (“Carer Qualification in German”) for live-in carers from Eastern Europe is intended to improve their professional situation and strengthen their self- empowerment. The materials are adapted to the individual living and working conditions and also include cooperative forms of learning in order to involve the person being cared and their social environment in the learning process.

Keywords: 24-hour care, circular migration, workplace-related interaction, language skills, intercultural competence

Editorial Policy of the Journal for German and Scandinavian Studies (in German)