Language & Nationalism in Europe

Language & Nationalism in Europe Ch 3 France: One state, one nation, one language?

Legal/institutional dominance of French • Being challenged by the EU for the first time since the revolution • Also being challenged on an international scale by English • Will traditional protectionist linguistic policies continue to be effective?

France has: • Large territory • No official religion • Shared historical consciousness • Common legal/administrative system • Common language

Some French language facts • Language is seen a a pillar of the nation-state, as “cement” • French became the official language in 1992, in preparation for the Maastricht treaty • There are no adult monolingual speakers of regional languages in France (why is this important?) • There are no official statistics on regional languages (it is illegal to gather such information, considered racist)

Some historical facts Q: What language did the Gauls speak?

Some historical facts Q: What language did the Gauls speak? A: Celtic Q: Who brought Romance (i.e., Latin that developed into French)?

Some historical facts Q: What language did the Gauls speak? A: Celtic Q: Who brought Romance (i.e., Latin that developed into French)? A: The Romans, in the 2nd cent CE Result: Gallo-Romance, which is Latin with a Gaulish substratum. Frankish invaders (Germanic) later (5th cent) impose Frankish superstratum

Nationalism – a French invention? • 1790s, a post-Revolutionary idea • Language and homeland give a sense of national belonging • If national groups are frustrated, they may turn to terrorism, as in Corsica & Basque country

Traditionally recognized regional languages: • Germanic: Flemish & Alsatian (NE corners) • Celtic: Breton (NW corner) • Non-IE: Basque (SW corner) • Romance: Catalan (SE corner), Corsican

Regional variants that are not traditionally recognized: • Occitan (large region of S. France) • Franco-Provencal (mid- East) • Langues d’oïl (N. France; controversial because they belong to the same group as standard French, but they do not enjoy rights/status) • Arabic • Various Creoles

Basque • Modern descendant of Aquitanian • Basque academy & unified orthography est. 1919 • 80K Basque speakers in France • Basque immersion schools est. 1969, but opposed by French govt.; first recognized in 1982 and first funded in 1983 • Basque straddles two states, creating conflicting loyalties

Basque, cont’d. • “4+3=1” – a proposal to unite 4 Spanish provinces and 3 French provinces to create one Basque state • ETA (Basque Fatherland & Freedom) established 1959 in Spain; French equivalent is Iparretarak • Most people are against violence, but violence seems to work

Breton • Derived from Gaulish Celtic languages • A few words survive in French (chemin, mouton) and English (budget) • 250K speakers • Use in church helped it survive the Revolution • 25% of male Breton speakers died in WWI • Breton schools created in 1977, funding in 1994

Breton, cont’d. • Most people learn it as a second language today, not as a mother tongue • Former nationalist movements have aligned with Germans (WWII) or communists • Little nationalist aspiration today • Focus on ties with Welsh, Irish, Scottish Gaelic

Dutch/Flemish • Steadily shrinking in France (but spoken in neighboring Belgium) • 80K speakers in France, but only 2% of children in the area can speak Flemish (all can speak French) • No legal status • No TV • One bilingual radio station has some Flemish

Alsatian • Germanic dialects of Alsace & Lorraine, which were part of Germany until 1918 • Intense Frenchification between wars and post WWII • Now declining rapidly • Alsatian is spoken, but Standard German is written and taught in schools • Alsace d’abord movement is very small

Occitan/Langues d’oc • Developed from Gallo-Romance • Closer to Catalan, Italian, and Spanish than to French • 12-13M inhabitants, but how many use Occitan? • 48% understand • 28% speak • 13% read • 6% write

Occitan/Langues d’oc cont’d. • Occitan has no official status • Literature dates from the 11th cent • 13 cent there was a crusade against them • Is it one nation or two? • Provence & Languedoc-Rousillon • Provence literary renaissance in 19th c • 1935 Grammaire occitane & orthography

Occitan/Langues d’oc cont’d. • Between the world wars it was forbidden to speak a regional language in school • Little support for political independence • Occitan immersion schools are now spreading and very popular • Occitan is potentially a link to the world abroad: Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Catalan -- it is closer to all of these and thus affords an advantage

Franco-Provençal • Also spoken in Italy and elsewhere • Very fragmented • Not taught in France • No political profile in France

Catalan • The official language of 8M people living mostly in Spain • 180K speakers in France • Supported in schools • Intellectual revival since the 1960s • Political party aims at identity, not autonomy

Corsican • French authority resisted in Corsica • Annexed by France in 1768 • Until 1950s some Corsicans did not speak French • 143K speakers • Very strong nationalism • Front de libération national corse (FLNC) is an active terrorist group

Regional languages -- conclusions • EU opens up new trade relations -- Paris is no longer the sole center • Belonging to a minority group is not incompatible with being French • Regional languages have economic advantage due to links to other countries, giving them positive associations

Emergence of French • Roman conquest of Gaul 125-124 BCE • All of Gaul becomes Roman province in 51 BCE • Acquisition of Latin very desirable • Gaulish (Celtic) died out by end of 6th c • 5th c Germanic migrations/invasions • Roman Empire collapsed 476 CE

Emergence of French, cont’d. • Conversion of Clovis, King of Franks, in 496, considered by some to be the beginning of the French nation • Name “French” derives from Frankish • Langues d’oc were less influenced by both Gaulish & Frankish forces • Latin became the literary language and was taught in school in the langues d’oïl region

Emergence of French, cont’d. • Some langues d’oïl are not mutually intelligible • Trouble in schools -- children mix langues d’oïl with French • langues d’oïl not recognized by gov’t until 1980s

Institutionalization of French • France grew gradually 1229-1860 • New territories had to accept French as administrative language, but did not have to speak it • After Revolution, language was considered essential to unify state • Using French would “free” people from “patois” (substandard language)

Institutionalization of French, cont’d. • All other languages were forbidden • French was considered “the perfect language”, and spread to the courts of other countries • French, once considered egalitarian, became a language of repression • Toubon law (1994) makes no concessions to the regional languages • Officially there are no minorities, all citizens are equal, strong resistance to granting legal status to minority languages

Challenges to the supremacy of French • Threat of English • External -- English is becoming the language of diplomacy • Internal -- Borrowings • Protectionist linguistic policies since 1960 • Each gov’t ministry has a terminological commission • Since 1990 commissions have representatives from other French-speaking countries • Fines for failure to use French words

Legal pressures • Toubon law imposes use of French, rejects borrowings • Toubon law is ridiculed in the press • Toubon law is contrary to EU practice • Gradual increase in recognition of regional languages, but Charter on Regional & Minority languages has not been ratified • Position of French in the world is weakened • France is trying to build positive ties to former colonies

Conclusions • France used language to establish unity, but then there was outside pressure from English and internal resentment from minority languages • Most minorities probably do not want separation, just recognition • In 2000, only 2% of children were educated in a minority language

Language & Nationalism in Europe