Language: Influencer Tina Goldschmidt likes to sound “Eastern”

Language
Influencer Tina Goldschmidt likes to sound “Eastern”

“Saxony is ugly”, “Saxon sounds stupid” – these are comments that Tina Goldschmidt reads under her short videos on Instagram and Tiktok. There, the 36-year-old entertains tens of thousands of followers with comedy videos in Saxon under the name “schnappatmig”. She is not deterred by the negative reactions: Goldschmidt wants to dispel prejudices against the Saxon dialect.

Until a few years ago, the Saxon-born woman was still uncomfortable speaking dialect in public, as she says: “It was simply a latent feeling of being embarrassed, of ‘What would people think of me?'” . Today she stands by her Saxon: “For me, dialect also has something to do with cordiality and warmth. If you can just chat, it creates a bond.”

In your Goldschmidt recreates everyday situations in short videos. Sometimes she is a friendly flight attendant: “In the event of pressure loss, oxygen masks fall off the Degge alone.” A kindergarten teacher talking to children at eye level: “Or Riggo, my Gudzor, wasn’t it?” And other times she becomes a motivated fitness trainer “And over, over, nunnor, nuff!” Terms like “sabbeln” and “Filou” are also used. Your goal with all of this: abolish the “Saxon gap” of social media.

“The fear of sounding stupid when speaking Saxon”

Goldschmidt studied social sciences in Bremen, completed her master’s degree in Oxford and then received her doctorate in sociology in Stockholm. “Don’t sound like the East” – that was often reflected in Goldschmidt’s university career as something positive and desirable.

This perception can also be found among other people in Goldschmidt’s comment columns. “People write: ‘I’ve tried for years to learn standard German so that people can no longer tell that I actually speak Saxon,'” she says. “My impression is that the concern is spread across generations.” Because what also comes up again and again in the comments: “The fear of sounding stupid when you speak Saxon.”

From Goethe, via Saxon comedian to Walter Ulbricht

The Upper Saxon dialect has been persecuted by its bad image since the late 19th century, explains linguist Beat Siebenhaar from the University of Leipzig. There are several explanations for this: They range from Goethe, who didn’t think much of Saxony, to the Saxon comedians, to the politician Walter Ulbricht and the GDR border guards.

Pegida demonstrations and other contemporary phenomena also aroused negative associations. Siebenhaar adds: “In addition, Saxon is repeatedly imitated by non-Saxons in order to characterize the somewhat simple, more urban lower middle class with a penchant for right-wing structures.”

However, Goldschmidt notes that the vast majority of comments are positive. People like the Saxon dialect in their videos and are planning a trip to the East for the first time in their lives. Nevertheless, Goldschmidt sees a clear discrepancy with content creators who deal with other, non-East German dialects. “This “Saxon sounds stupid” keeps coming up. For example, I haven’t read “Hessian sounds stupid” once.”

Saxony as a symbol of East Germany

For many people, Saxon is the only dialect that can be recognized as “East German”. Siebenhaar explains: “Since the Saxons and Thuringians made up a large part of the residents of the former GDR, it was this dialect that was most often heard in connection with the GDR.” Thus, in contrast to other dialects, it is “marked” – biased, so to speak – and is used for stereotyping.

Siebenhaar adds: “It is hardly foreseeable at the moment that politicians, scientists and bank directors will now speak Saxon in a professional context. But then such prejudices could be broken down.” In reality, this may still seem unlikely – but you can already see what it sounds like on Goldschmidt’s social media channels.

dpa