The State, the Activists and the Islanders

This analysis of language policy on Corsica provides the first study of the three levels of language policy existing on the Mediterranean island of Corsica. It focuses on the key participants - the State, the language activists and the islanders - in the language debate that has taken place across the island since its purchase by France. This book is informed by recent work on language planning, both theoretical and relating to specific case studies. At the same time, it engages with trends in sociolinguistics over the past decades, which have included language planning in their investigations of languages in contact, language obsolescence and language death. A central premise of this book is that the three discrete categories of participants in the language debate are closely interrelated and that the status and position of Corsican in relation to French cannot be understood without a thorough exploration of these three strands. This volume will appeal to researchers and students in French Studies, sociolinguistics, and especially language policy.

The first monograph of language policy on Corsica Offers a historical approach to French language policy towards the regional heritage languages Will position the Corsican case within the wider field of language policy studies Information is drawn on up-to-date fieldwork, undertaken by the author Includes data which will feed into a wider comparison of the situation in other European countries

Contenu
From the contents Chapter One. Corsica, the poor relation.- Chapter Two. Corsica, a Genoese island.- Chapter Three. The Third Republic and a new century.- Chapter Four. The loi Deixonne language management against the grain.- Chapter Five. The final decades of the twentieth century.- Chapter Six. Language beliefs influencing language management.- Chapter Seven. The islanders a longitudinal study.- Chapter Eight. The conclusions two languages, two policies? Appendix A. Bibliography.