Research in German
Our research in German includes linguistics, literary studies as well as linguistic and culture didactics. The connection between the areas is strengthened through clear cultural and cultural analytic elements in the research. Linguistic research is conducted in historical linguistic research and the contemporary language. Research in literary studies covers a broad spectrum from post-war to contemporary literature, and in cultural didactics, the focus is on the development of new concepts for teaching realia.
Our research in German includes linguistics, literary studies as well as linguistic and culture didactics. The connection between the areas is strengthened through clear cultural and cultural analytic elements in the research. Linguistic research is conducted in historical linguistic research and the contemporary language. Research in literary studies covers a broad spectrum from post-war to contemporary literature, and in cultural didactics, the focus is on the development of new concepts for teaching realia.
Modern linguistics
In the profile area of modern linguistics, we research the structure of the linguistic system as well as the connection between language and human relations and interactions. We also research populism, language learning and assessment of pupil's texts in German.
Research about the contemporary language is primarily conducted from a system and cognition linguistic, discourse and culture analytical perspective. Investigations are mainly based on written language in various media and contexts. Research questions concern the development of subjunctive, discursive changes in the societal climate, the meaning and impact of a text on interaction and relations between people, the importance of multilingualism for language learning and aspects of validity in the assessment of pupil's texts.
Historical linguistics
The historical linguistic research encompasses texts from Middle Low German and New High German up until the 19th century. Research questions concern the morphological-syntactic area but also the information and argumentation structure of the texts. Questions regarding the role of the language in the transfer of knowledge and culture are also addressed.
The profile area linguistic and culture-historical and philologic research has a long tradition in the German subject and builds on cultural and linguistic connections between the German-speaking areas and Sweden. At the department, research is conducted about Middle Low German historical syntax and orthographic history in early New Modern German as well as the status of German in Sweden in the late 17th century, about rhetoric, linguistic interaction during the pre-modern time and oral and written German in early language stages.
Literary studies
Research in literary studies is focused on German post-war and contemporary literature. Of particular interest are questions that concern the connection between literature, culture and society, e.g. in DDR and reunited Germany, but also questions about inter- and transcultural phenomena. The focus lies e.g. on autobiographical writing, literary border crossings, literary production and reception, travel literature and on literary theory, the theory of intertextuality and narratology. Issues of environment and sustainability are of particular interest.
Current research
- Sebastian Cöllen: Att säga det outsägliga. En kognitionslingvistisk analys av metaforikens funktion i Mechthild von Magdeburgs mystika verk
- Michael Prinz: HiVoKo, Historisches Vorlesungskorpus/Historisk föreläsningskorpus (på tyska)
- Michael Prinz & Julia Sjöberg: “Offentlig tyska” i Sveriges tidigmoderna språklandskap
PhD students
- Simon Bergqvist makes a corpus-based study of how the subjunctive is used in spoken contemporary German
- Anders Gustafsson studies final dependent clauses and final infinitives in Middle Low German
- Jesse Juopperi's thesis project revolves around populism and political language in public discourse in Germany
- Dominik Maier studies Contextual knowledge and its importance in language learning
- Petra Johansson Pirholt investigates autobiographical representations of West German terrorists (1988–2005), focusing on concepts such as family and parenthood.
- Julia Sjöberg - Julia Sjöbergs dissertation deals with non-standard language use, more accurately, the use of non-normative syntactical structures, by L2 speakers of German and the language attitude of native speakers towards these non-normative features.