Language ideology of two escapees of Auschwitz-Birkenau camp: A CDA and corpus linguistics in German media

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Antok Risaldi, Anang Santoso, Mimas Ardhianti

2025 Indonesian Journal of Applied Linguistics Vol. 15 Issue 2 Article Cited by 0 Quartile

Abstract

The objective of this research is to analyze language ideology in the testimonies of two escapees from the Auschwitz-Birkenau Camp. This study employs a qualitative descriptive approach, oriented towards corpus-based Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA). The research data consist of the 26-page report of Alfred Wetzler and Rudolf Vrba, which serves as the corpus source. A contrastive analysis of the language used by two escapees was conducted. The word “camp” was selected as the keyword, based on its frequency and occurrences in the corpus. The corpus was analyzed using Fairclough’s (1995) framework of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA). The findings are divided into three levels: words (key terms), collocations, and ideoloical language constructions. Firstly, the key terms in the corpus produced by Vrba and Wetzler were categorized into three groups: (1) words related to location, background, and origin; (2) words that introduce the purpose of the concentration camp; and (3) words implying the events that occurred within the camp. Secondly, collocations surrounding the keyword “camp” were identified, including adjectives, verbs, nouns, and adverbs. Thirdly, three ideological language constructions were found in the testimonies: (1) the language ideology of experiencing similar misery as Jewish prisoners; (2) the language ideology of rebellion against torture; and (3) the language ideology of struggling to survive. The implications of this research demonstrate how critical discourse analysis and corpus linguistics can be integrated to uncover ideological patterns in media texts through the linguistic features. Copyright © 2025, authors.

Affiliations

Indonesian Language, Universitas Internasional Semen Indonesia, PT. Semen Indonesia (Persero) Tbk Complex, Jl. Veteran, Kb. Dalem, Sidomoro, Gresik Regency, East Java, Kebomas, 61122, Indonesia; Indonesian and Regional Literature Language Education, Department of Indonesian Literature, Faculty of Literature, Universitas Negeri Malang, Jl. Semarang 5 Malang, Malang, 65145, Indonesia; Indonesian Language Education, Faculty of Teacher Training and Education, Universitas PGRI Adi Buana Surabaya, Jl. Ngagel Dadi III B No.37, Wonokromo District, East Java, Surabaya, 60245, Indonesia

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