The author compares selected bilingual folk songs from the area of Lower Gail Valley in Austrian Carinthia. The focus is on the extent of the shown bilingualism as well as any possible change through time, from which it is concluded, how the changed linguistic situation in favour of the German language influences the productivity of folk literature in the region. Therefore, the paper begins by introducing the characteristics of folksongs and the history of the German and Slovene speaking communities in Carinthia.
|