“I mean sure, the dialect thing is interesting and all, but it’s hardly all that special.”

To me, that is the crux about what this article is about. I think you are completely underestimating the dialect thing. It is a case study about how a regional dialect formed and then slowly eroded, for cultural reasons as well as legal ones, for example laws requiring only English in schools. (It may not deviate that much from standard German so as to be unintelligible to native Germans, but it is still unmistakebly a dialect.) Hundreds of dialects die out every year, and hundreds are formed every year.

German is a particularly fascinating and important case study for linguists who specialize in dialects because it was actually built from hundreds, possibly thousands, of different dialects. The formation of a standard German language was a political construction – it never actually preceded the dialects, unlike many other languages. In the case of Texas German, you may observe these malleable facets of the German language, as well as how persistently it has resisted its standardization in everyday life.

German is a particularly important ethnographic case study for the study of dialect trajectories in that it greatly lends itself to 1) inventing new words, even by individuals alone (as Boas says himself, no two individuals in Texas speak the same way), and 2) still being reasonably understood by others despite this scatteredness. This quality is shared by very few other languages, (at least, to my knowledge, European languages).

And as always, any dialect somehow takes on the cultural dimension of being “lesser” in value than the standard language. Again, this is particularly interesting for the case of German, whose standardization was a socio-political move. And despite this “lesser” status, you see how the dialect has survived (though barely) in Texas, rather than knowledge of the standard language; it is really a testament to the power of dialects. (I would be interested in learning if standard German was even taught or spoken, the way it is in schools in German-speaking countries.)

Ok, I know I’m rambling now. To finish off, I’m sure there are very relevant parallels between Texas German and Turkendeutsch dialects such as Kanak Sprak, as well as other immigrant dialects that integrate German. But I remain skeptical about the parallels you have drawn with regards to resistance to language aqcuisition in German-speaking countries, at least with the present information that we have.

I guess it all boils down to the question ‘What makes this case so special?’.

I think that it’s a “special case” because of the mythology within the US (and about the US) that past generations of immigrants all fully partook of the “American Experience.” This video – and many other pieces of evidence – disrupt that mythology, and – at least tacitly – show that the European immigrants of the past (who are often held up as being the “model immigrants” who did their best to “become American”) weren’t actually all on board with the whole, “It’s America, and we speak English here, and if you don’t like it, you can just go on back to where you came from” (which – unfortunately and ironically – is the reaction that many Latinos face, even those who are multi-generational Americans).

Contrast that with how diasporas in cities were documented, both by outsiders and – often later – by insiders. And it wasn’t only in the large cities of Boston, New York, or Chicago, but also smaller cities, like Hungarians in Toledo or Greeks in Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti. Also in cities, the histories of German immigrants were described far more often, even in places where they were majorities (or formed the largest minority), possibly because, even though they were numerous, they were not often amongst the wealthy.

However, speaking about the shift in the use of German as the major spoken and written language in the area, I recall that the first major shift toward English was during World War I, and the vilification of the Prussians at that time. (True, Germany and Prussia are not exactly the same, but – like the difference between Russia and the Soviet Union a couple generations later – that likely made little difference to many Americans.)

Both are immigrants, both are only very slowly (to not at all) adapting to local culture. The movie states that the only reason the Germans in Texas adapted was because of WWII and hostility against all things German, otherwise they probably still wouldn’t have. One of the women in the feature freely admitted that she only spoke a few words of English as a child despite being second or third generation Texan.

In Germany the refusal of the immigrants to adapt to German culture is talked about as an immigration problem. People find it problematic and insulting when immigrants to Germany refuse to learn and speak German. In this case on the other hand they talk about it is a good thing and as if it is bad that the difference is vanishing. That just seems strange to me and a bit hypocritical all things considered.

I mean sure, the dialect thing is interesting and all, but it’s hardly all that special. An interesting mishmash of German and English with a few English words thrown into the German and a few German grammar rules applied to English. I understood every word. It’s hardly a language or a culture that has to be preserved because last I checked the German language and culture was well and thriving. In Germany. It may be lost to this specific community but hardly lost overall.

Or one could also compare the Latino immigrants. I know for a fact that many people in the US don’t take kindly to it when they ‘try to preserve their culture’ and don’t learn English.

I guess it all boils down to the question ‘What makes this case so special?’.

As a German-American with children, I’ve found it so frustrating that German-American historical and educational resources are hard to come by compared to other groups. It’s so odd considering that German-Americans are the largest ethnic group in the country – you’d think library bookshelves would be stuffed with German-American histories, but they’re not (quite the opposite, sadly). The stigma of the wars is long worn off, so it seems past due for German-American history to get some airplay :)

Respectfully, I am highly interested in the subject you brought up – but I do not see it as a contrast to the OP.