This is the first comprehensive volume to compare the sociolinguistic situations of minorities in Russia and in Western Europe. As such, it provides insight into language policies, the ethnolinguistic vitality and the struggle for reversal of language shift, language revitalization and empowerment of minorities in Russia and the European Union. The volume shows that, even though largely unknown to a broader English-reading audience, the linguistic composition of Russia is by no means less diverse than multilingualism in the EU. It is therefore a valuable introduction into the historical backgrounds and current linguistic, social and legal affairs with regard to Russia's manifold ethnic and linguistic minorities, mirrored on the discussion of recent issues in a number of well-known Western European minority situations.

The publications of the Hakluyt Society (founded in 1846) made available edited (and sometimes translated) early accounts of exploration. The first series, which ran from 1847 to 1899, consists of 100 books containing published or previously unpublished works by authors from Christopher Columbus to Sir Francis Drake, and covering voyages to the New World, to China and Japan, to Russia and to Africa and India. This volume (published in 1855) contains three narratives: Frederick Martens' description of a voyage to Spitzbergen in 1671, first translated into English and published in 1694 in a book of voyages dedicated to Samuel Pepys, then Secretary to the Admiralty; the Relation du Groeneland of Isaac de la Peyr re (published anonymously in French in 1663 and specially translated for this book); and the extraordinary account of the survival of eight Englishmen 'left by mischance in Green-land' for nine months in 1630.

This edited collection provides an overview of linguistic diversity, societal discourses and interaction between majorities and minorities in the Baltic States. It presents a wide range of methods and research paradigms including folk linguistics, discourse analysis, narrative analyses, code alternation, ethnographic observations, language learning motivation, languages in education and language acquisition. Grouped thematically, its chapters examine regional varieties and minority languages (Latgalian, Voro, urban dialects in Lithuania, Polish in Lithuania); the integration of the Russian language and its speakers; and the role of international languages like English in Baltic societies. The editors' introductory and concluding chapters provide a comparative perspective that situates these issues within the particular history of the region and broader debates on language and nationalism at a time of both increased globalization and ethno-regionalism. This book will appeal in particular to students and scholars of multilingualism, sociolinguistics, language discourses and language policy, and provide a valuable resource for researchers focusing on Baltic States, Northern Europe and the post-Soviet world in the related fields of history, political science, sociology and anthropology.

This is the first comprehensive volume to compare the sociolinguistic situations of minorities in Russia and in Western Europe. As such, it provides insight into language policies, the ethnolinguistic vitality and the struggle for reversal of language shift, language revitalization and empowerment of minorities in Russia and the European Union. The volume shows that, even though largely unknown to a broader English-reading audience, the linguistic composition of Russia is by no means less diverse than multilingualism in the EU. It is therefore a valuable introduction into the historical backgrounds and current linguistic, social and legal affairs with regard to Russia’s manifold ethnic and linguistic minorities, mirrored on the discussion of recent issues in a number of well-known Western European minority situations.

Die Erforschung von Sprache im oeffentlichen Raum (Linguistic Landscapes, LL) hat sich in den vergangen 20 Jahren als Teilgebiet der Soziolinguistik, der Semiotik und anderer Disziplinen fest etabliert. Der vorliegende Band gibt einen UEberblick zu zentralen Ansatzen der LL-Forschung mit einem Bezug zur deutschen Sprache. Die Beitrage stellen aktuelle Studien aus dem deutschsprachigen Raum, zu Deutsch als Minderheitensprache sowie aus Landern mit einer ausgepragten DaF-Tradition vor. Sie thematisieren sprachstrukturelle und soziolinguistische ebenso wie didaktische, methodische und technologische Aspekte. Damit tragt der Band zu einer Systematisierung der deutschsprachigen LL-Forschung bei, gibt Impulse fur internationale Diskussionen und benennt wichtige Desiderata.