Rhythm and Revolution: Earl Gustav von Schlabrendorf and Language

Gustav von Schlabrendorf's views on language as recorded in Carl Gustav Jochmann's writings (Ueber die Sprache [On Language], facsimile of the original edition of 1828, Wagenknecht, Christian Johannes [Ed], Gottingen, 1968) are presented. The underlying idea of Schlabrendorf's language theory was that every change - in nature, society, or language - must follow certain rules that prevent this change from developing into chaos. However, these rules do not lead to complete uniformity but secure some kind of balance between the two extremes. The notion of rhythm as the manifestation of these rules is central in Schlabrendorf's language conception. This rythym is an aesthetic quality; language is at its best in the form of rhythmical political prose rather than poetry, which, especially German poetry, Schlabrendorf found to be too conservative to influence political events. Schlabrendorf's treatment of the relationship between written & oral language is examined, & it is found that he stressed the priority & communicative effectiveness of oral discourse. 30 References. Z. Dubiel