De historische dynamiek van taalideologieën: naar meer empirisch onderzoek

This article wants to make a case for research into the historical dynamics of language ideologies, from the perspective of the long 'language conflict' in Belgium. Although the prominent language-ideological baggage of this conflict has been pointed out more than once, the precise ways and mechanisms through which language ideologies emerge, compete, transform or return over a longer time span have been less extensively explored. We attempt to reiterate and expand existing rationales for such a historical perspective, and provide a brief empirical illustration using parliamentary data from the Language-in-Education Acts of 1883 and 1963. This will shed light on the layered and adaptive behavior of a language-ideological 'classic' (the belief that 'language', 'nation', and 'people' neatly coincide), and hints at the further nuancing potential of a historical and diachronic perspective on language ideology.