yOn July 1, 1996, representatives from Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and a number of countries where German is a minority language met in Vienna to finalize the new reform of German spelling. This reform is due to come into force on August 1, 1998. The present publication situates the new system in a historical dimension and sets out the rationale behind the changes foreseen. Central criteria here are the linguistic theories and orthographic principles underlying the modifications planned in various areas of spelling, and the aims pursued by them. These new official guidelines are also discussed critically by a number of opponents of the reform. Here different theoretical approaches to the problem of correct writing and other views on what the evolution of German spelling could look like are set against the new official guidelines. Taken together, these conflicting views provide a reliable basis for an assessment and a comparison of the various concepts that have been put forward.

The volume assembles papers from an eponymous colloquium held in Brunswick on the 18th/19th September 2001. It sets out to provide a documentation and overview of key concerns, currents and developments in German linguistics over the last few years.

The articles gathered here go back to papers held at the colloquium on ALanguage CriticismA held at the German Studies Department of the Technical University of Aachen (RWTH) on 19 February 1999. Their common theme is the joint interest of German Studies scholars, whether in literary studies or linguistics, in a perspective that can be referred with terms like "language criticism," "language reflection," possibly also "language culture" or "cultivation." The contributions can be read as a plea to re-establish a language-critical component (as opposed to a merely descriptive one) in the engagement with (German) language and literature.