Hør dog hvad de siger - Note-to-Self: Trials & Errors

education-related arguments, financial arguments), whereas those who do not agree with this
view use ideologically framed arguments related to identity, culture and, in particular, the po-
sitive side of linguistic pluralism.
6.3. The ideology of the Nordic
We saw above how the choice of language in inter-Scandinavian communication was descri-
bed simultaneously as an outcome of similarities (linguistic and otherwise) between the Nord-
ic people, and as the very foundation for these very similarities. This ‘dialectics of ideology’
needs to be further expanded upon. For instance, we saw above how comprehension of Scan-
dinavian correlate with preferred choice of language – though not in any straightforward
manner. We further saw how both of these correlate with contact with Scandinavian. Further,
one would assume these correlations to be dialectic, i.e., more contact leads to better un-
derstanding, but better understanding also encourages more contact, and so on.
In figure 1 we have sketched out some of the possible factors involved in maintaining the
‘ideology of the Nordic’. The figure also shows how these factors are suspended in the dialec-
tic relationships we have described above.
Figure 1: The dialectics of the ideology of the Nordic
Choice of language in inter-
Nordic communication
‘Imagined community’
Comprehension of Scandinavian
The imagined community (mutually intelligible languages, common history, similar political
climates, similarities in personalities) forms the basis for comprehension of, and for the desire
to, use Scandinavian in inter-Nordic communication; it is also an important argument for at-
tempting to steer the development of the languages in parallel with each other through official
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Language policy
(and the evolution of the languages)
Glocalization
Globalization