Abstract
The political deliberations surrounding the potential ratification of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages (from January 2014 to October 2015) in France resulted in a national debate unheard of since 1999, providing new insight into the resistance towards promoting these languages in the public space. Despite a recent survey claiming that ‘the ideological barriers on this issue have almost disappeared’ (Ifop, ‘Les Français et les langues régionales’, 2015), scare-mongering rhetoric against ratification ultimately prevailed at the Sénat. Drawing on Roger and De Bres (Sociolinguistic Studies 131–152, 2017), this chapter reviews the ideological strategies and fallacious arguments used by elected representatives in order to maintain the status quo and the supremacy of French in France.
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Notes
- 1.
http://www.parti-socialiste.fr/articles/engagement-56 [Accessed 26 January 2017].
- 2.
- 3.
Interview with Public Sénat http://www.publicsenat.fr/lcp/politique/langues-regionales-stephane-follfrederique-espagnac-cest-micro-trop-tard-1099952# [Accessed 26 January 2017].
- 4.
Cf. concerning Breton: ‘The highest number of Breton speakers recorded is in 1886, with just under 2 million people (or 59 percent of the total population of Brittany) able to speak Breton. In 1983, this figure had dropped to 604,000 people (or 16 percent of the population). Decreasing further still in 1991 to a quarter of a million (or 6.5 percent). The decline of the language thus seems to be gathering pace as more and more native speakers die and their numbers are not reproduced among the younger generations.’ (Hornsby and Nolan 2011: 312).
- 5.
Cf. http://www.assemblee-nationale.fr/14/rapports/r1703.asp#P391_46424 [Accessed 26 January 2017].
- 6.
Corse: ‘le français est la seule langue de la République’ rappelle Manuel Valls. Le Figaro, 23/12/2015. Available at: http://www.lefigaro.fr/politique/2015/12/23/01002-20151223ARTFIG00307-corse-le-francais-est-la-seule-langue-dans-la-republique-rappelle-manuel-valls.php [Accessed 26 January 2017].
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Roger, G. (2019). The langues de France and the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages: Keeping Ratification at Bay Through Disinformation: 2014–2015. In: Harrison, M.A., Joubert, A. (eds) French Language Policies and the Revitalisation of Regional Languages in the 21st Century. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-95939-9_14
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