Abstract
The Mediterranean island of Corsica became French in 1768–1769, and Corsican is one of the most widely used regional languages in France. In Corsica, the language issue is politically prominent, with a very strong opposition between the nationalist regional government, which claims a co-official status for the Corsican language, and the French national government, which advocates the supremacy of the national language. However, the French linguistic integration process has been an astonishing success since the end of the nineteenth century, and the first mass mobilisations in favour of the Corsican language did not take place until the 1970s. In this article, I try to explain why the politicisation of Corsican language came so late; how this language became a politically salient issue; and how public attitudes and policies towards this language have substantially evolved. Since 1982, the state and the state-wide parties on the island have amended their strategy and challenged the near-monopoly of Corsican nationalists with regard to the defence of the Corsican language. Especially in the field of education, they promoted and implemented a language policy shift, and tried to depoliticise this issue. Nonetheless, political positions remain polarised regarding measures such as compulsory education and co-official status.
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Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Introduction. The Corsican language: A singular, concerning and uncertain situation. Assessment and future challenges
- “Corsican sociolinguistics”: Key words and concepts of a cross-linguistic theory
- Elaboration, distanciation, polynomie: naissance et feux croisés de la sociolinguistique corse
- La langue polynomique, le concept phare de l’appareil critique corse
- Language ideologies and linguistic representations: Two lenses for a critical analysis of polynomie in Corsica
- Réévaluer le conflit diglossique en Corse: apports et dépassements de la sociolinguistique du conflit
- Chestnut beer, Corsica-Cola, and wine bottles: The commodification of Corsican in the linguistic and semiotic landscapes of the island’s drinks industry
- How language becomes a political issue: Social change, collective movements and political competition in Corsica
- Public policy for the Corsican language: From revitalisation to normalisation?
- From linguistics to litigation: Reflections on the legal aspects of reversing language shift
- Book Review
- Histoire sociale des langues de France
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Introduction. The Corsican language: A singular, concerning and uncertain situation. Assessment and future challenges
- “Corsican sociolinguistics”: Key words and concepts of a cross-linguistic theory
- Elaboration, distanciation, polynomie: naissance et feux croisés de la sociolinguistique corse
- La langue polynomique, le concept phare de l’appareil critique corse
- Language ideologies and linguistic representations: Two lenses for a critical analysis of polynomie in Corsica
- Réévaluer le conflit diglossique en Corse: apports et dépassements de la sociolinguistique du conflit
- Chestnut beer, Corsica-Cola, and wine bottles: The commodification of Corsican in the linguistic and semiotic landscapes of the island’s drinks industry
- How language becomes a political issue: Social change, collective movements and political competition in Corsica
- Public policy for the Corsican language: From revitalisation to normalisation?
- From linguistics to litigation: Reflections on the legal aspects of reversing language shift
- Book Review
- Histoire sociale des langues de France