National allegiance and the ultimate sacrifice inscribed in Alsatian cemeteries

Bibliographic Data

ID19486002
AuthorsKatharina Vajta (0000-0002-0232-9964, University of Gothenburg, corresponding author)
Year2026
Volume12
Issue1
Pages273-297
Publication date2026-05-04
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Historical Sociolinguistics (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2199-2894 • E-ISSN: 2199-2908
PublisherWalter de Gruyter GmbH (PUBLISHER • DE)
DOI10.1515/jhsl-2025-0045
OpenAlexW7160239202
LanguageEN
References cited30

The present study examines how national identity and regional belonging are historically represented and expressed in Alsatian cemeteries, evoking past events and sacrifices for the nation. The cemetery is approached as a semiotic linguistic landscape, where both national and regional belonging are asserted and contribute to the construction of collective memory. Particular attention is paid to transgressive monolingual epitaphs in French, where French emerges as a marked language choice since it diverges from the language expected by the ruling German power. This contrasts with monolingual German gravestones and bilingual gravestones in French and German. Language choice thus signals an ideological stance, further reinforced by symbols and verbal signs. Identity is articulated on both the national and regional levels: on the national level through references to specific French markers (decorations, public service titles, French wars, etc.), and on the regional level through distinctly Alsatian markers (e.g., the Malgré-nous). Ultimately, the cemetery visitor is reminded of national allegiance and of the authority of the nation, which has demanded the ultimate sacrifice from its citizens

Allegiance · German · Inscribed figure · National identity · Sacrifice · Semiotics · Categorization, perception, and language · Linguistic Variation and Morphology · Multilingual Education and Policy

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