The language of miners is rarely valued as a form of cultural heritage in the same way as material assets, such as tools and machinery. With the decline of the coal industry throughout large areas of Europe, miners and their communities are facing considerable societal transformations and their unique linguistic heritage is at severe risk of disappearing.

This international project will examine coal mining language through a comparative exploration of the Ruhr Area (Germany) and the East Midlands (UK), both historically important mining regions. These areas have been selected because they share a common period of coal mining, beginning in the 18th century and ending around the same time (in 2018 and 2015 respectively). As with other post-industrial regions of Europe, they have developed varied strategies to find new senses of identity, community and belonging. While regeneration through local mining heritage has been beneficial, less tangible forms of cultural heritage, notably language, have been chronically overlooked. We will advance knowledge of the diverse factors determining the usage, maintenance and emblematic value of mining languages, whilst developing and sharing effective approaches for preserving and conveying this endangered valuable heritage through local communities and museums.

To realise this, the project has the following aims and objectives:

•  Investigating linguistic variation of mining language on the levels of the individual and their community and comparatively between the regions using quantitative and qualitative methods

•  Systematically documenting salient linguistic features and usage to ensure the preservation of such linguistic varieties

•  Ensuring the effective representation of linguistic mining heritage through collaboration with local mining communities and museums

•  Analysing the role of mining language in nurturing and supporting regeneration strategies for informing how intangible cultural heritage can support successful place-based regeneration

We will pursue these objectives by initiating a multi-method design, with a particular focus on linguistic data from communicative interactions, lexical usage and visual representation of language. These methods are rooted in sociolinguistics, combining variationist linguistics, attitudinal and linguistic-landscape analyses to ensure the conservation of these cultural assets.

The Ruhr Area and the East Midlands offer a unique opportunity for a systematic comparative-contrastive analysis to respond to the significant gap in research on the linguistic practices of former mining communities. The complex array of differences and similarities between these two postindustrial regions will facilitate an in-depth evaluation of key factors determining the vitality, value and symbolic meaning of mining language for local communities across different national and linguistic contexts both in Europe and beyond. The international comparison, collaboration and knowledge transfer will expand our capacity to identify key factors determining the local value and symbolic significance of mining language in the respective communities, especially in terms of sense of belonging and local heritage amid industrial decline. Findings will feed into regeneration efforts in these regions by demonstrating the value of intangible heritage, notably language, for such purposes. At every stage, the project activities will revolve around working closely together with local mining communities and mining museums to collectively formulate the optimal strategies for addressing the current under-representation of mining language in the preservation and portrayal of cultural mining heritage. This will enable us to develop our public and stakeholder engagements and drive deeper connections to public policy as it touches on and is influenced by arts and humanities.

Funding Institutions:

AHRC  (Lead Institution)
DFG

Project Lead: Prof. Dr. Natalie Braber (Nottingham Trent University)
Project Co-Lead: Dr. John Bellamy (Manchester Metropolitan University)
Project Co-Lead: Dr. Nantke Pecht (Universität Münster)
Project-Co-Lead: Prof. Dr. Evelyn Ziegler (Universität Duisburg-Essen)

Project duration: 

2025 - 2028