Abstract

Since the founding of television stations in Welsh, Catalan and Basque in the early 1980s, minority languages have gradually gained a new prominence, particularly in Europe. As globalisation has developed, questions concerning such languages and the effect that the media might have on them have become more urgent. This book is the first general study of the many issues raised by this situation. Fourteen researchers from across Europe and the USA examine questions such as the media needs of minority languages, the role of the media in language maintenance, the impact of digital media, and problems raised by translation. Case studies range from the representativeness of drama on Welsh television to Sign Language in the media. Taken as a whole, this book establishes the field of minority language media studies and forms an important basis for future research.

This is an important and useful book, which not only lays out the key concerns in the study of minority language media, but also suggests fields for future scholarship.

This timely collection of essays has taken my understanding of the relationship between minority languages and the media to a new level. The editors have done a great job bringing together old and new media worlds, historical and cultural perspectives, and geographical case studies in an insightful and illuminating way.

Dr Mike Cormack is a Senior Lecturer at Sabhal Mòr Ostaig, the Gaelic college on the Isle of Skye, Scotland, part of UHI Millennium Institute, where he is Course Director for the BA in Gaelic and Media Studies. Since the early 1990s he has been publishing articles on minority language media in general, and more specifically on Scottish Gaelic and the media. Dr Niamh Hourigan is a College Lecturer in the Department of Sociology at University College Cork. She is the author of Escaping the Global Village: Media, Language and Protest examining campaigns for television in minority languages, and is co-editor of Social Movements and Ireland.

The role of the media in shaping the language we speak, and the future of a polyglot Europe, have been among the most important debates in cultural analysis and policy in recent years. This book brings together outstanding scholarship on the vitally important question of the media and minority languages, and provides much needed focus and analysis in an under-researched field.