Strategic Naming A Linguistic Approach to the German State Names During the Cold War

The Cold War brought the East and West into competition between systems, and this battle was also waged on adiscursive level. By using different names the states were able to position themselves and simultaneously call into question the legitimacy of the >> other << Germany. This paper takes on the >> German question << from alinguistic perspective by analysing different names for both German states in public discourses. The paper also sheds light on Sweden's view of divided Germany by examining how both German states were portrayed linguistically in Sweden between 1949 and 1989. The German-German context involved regular wars of words, where the use of aname could prompt both domestic and foreign policy conflicts while the Swedish materials show amore pragmatic approach: names were increasingly chosen to suit the context of communication. However, the attempt to portray the two German States as equal regardless of genre starting in the late 1960s is remarkable.