Taboo in language and discourse: introducing the volume

Every language reflects the practices of those who speak it, their surroundings, and livelihoods, what has to be avoided, and what is plainly forbidden and unmentionable — taboo across various languages and cultures. Taboo in language easily translates into practices of avoidance and secrecy. It also has discursive and performative dimensions. The papers within this issue are based on a meeting we organised in Spa, the region of the High Fens in Belgium (30 September – 1 October, 2017). The High Fens — a marshy area about an hour’s drive from Cologne — offered a propitious environment for the topic. The misty stretch of the moor was a reminder of the beliefs and taboos many of us grew up with. Under continuous rain, the treacherous paths, lined with withered blackberry bushes, seemed to have hosted a multitude of supernatural phenomena — the unseen presences of the dead and ever-living spirits, where land and water merge and one feels overpowered by Nature’s doom and gloom.