If you encounter a native of France or Spain, he will most likely speak French or Spanish, as the national language of his home country. However, a notable number of people speak a cultural language as well. The salience of these languages on the north vs. south side of the Pyrenees Mountains is substantial. Catalan, spoken in northeastern Spain and southeastern France, and Basque, a language isolate spoken in northern Spain and southwestern France, are minority languages. Both are distinct from Castilian Spanish with their own literature, people, and culture. While Basque and Catalan are prevalent in their respective Spanish autonomous communities, the “border” of the Països Catalans (Catalan Countries) and Euskal Herria (Basque Country) extends into the south of France. I will discuss the status of Basque and Catalan in their respective cultural regions, the social, political and economic implications of the two languages and cultures, and the effect the boarder between France and Spain has on these communities.
The historic oppression of identity and culture by the Spanish has created social tensions between these groups and the Castilians in Spain. During the time of Francisco Franco’s dictatorship, attempts at Spanish centralization and assimilation were at an all time high, with these regional languages banned from use in publications, official documents, and public speech in the 16th century and again in the 1930s, although Basque and Catalan in particular had continued de facto use in government and in confided interactions (Alguera 89). This attempt at assimilation had already occurred previously in the French state as discussed early with the success of French public schooling and language promotion. However, in Spain ...
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Language is an important part of who we are. It influences the way we think and behave on a great scale. However, sometimes it is forced upon us to go in different directions just so we can physically and mentally feel as if we belong to the society in which we live in. Just as we see in Amy Tan’s “Mother Tongue” and Richard Rodriguez’s “A Memoir of a Bilingual Childhood”, both authors faced some challenges along the way by coping with two different languages, while still trying to achieve the social position which they desired.
This research paper will be looking into and discussing, whether or not the French language in Quebec is still under threat. This project will discuss the existence of a threat to French language, and its culture. Also look into possible reasons why people may believe that there is a threat or not.
Ryon effectively analyses the various texts by identifying that local knowledge shows evidence of a fight against language loss meanwhile, academic writings reveal the opposite. Ryon’s use of local knowledge in her article puts the ideas of her argument into practice by including unofficial forms of knowledge as evidence to support her argument. To make this statement even more clear and bold, Ryon should have included testimonies from local knowledge as evidence in the earlier three sections of her argument. It would have been beneficial to hear anecdotes from the French in Louisiana regarding their reaction to the ideas put forward by expert knowledge. In the first part of her essay, Ryon makes an assumption that the ideas put forward by expert discourse, primarily those that question the promotion of the language, is the reason why the “Louisinification” movement has not progressed very much since its introduction (p. 283). Ryon does not include anecdotes from the group involved in the creation of this movement to support this assumption; perhaps there is a lack of resources and not a lack of legitimization. There are also assumptions made on the reasons why the Cajun have chosen to assimilate to the dominant language stating that learning English for the Cajuns is a way for them,
Language is a mean of communication in any given society. It represents the ability to evolve and progress through the ongoing process of living with other human beings. Many can perceive this instrument as tool of liberation and transformation but others as an instrument to enslave, manipulate or oppress a group of people. Whichever the case one need to acknowledge that it is necessary and not a waste of time the many different discussions about this ongoing topic regardless of the time period or social context any country might have. In Puerto Rico, there has been an ongoing dilemma about languages; Dr. Alicia Pousada examines on her essay what many might define “the language madness on the island”. Throughout this paper some of her most interesting ideas will be shared and discussed so that this already extended topic might find another page to take place.
When compared to other countries, the United States may be considered as a relatively new country. In the 1800’s, there were many waves of immigration from countries in Europe. Many immigrated due to better economic opportunities and other groups sought religious freedom. Along with those waves, the immigrants’ languages were also brought and spread. One of the languages among them is French. French descends from Latin, which descends from Italic, and belongs to the Indo-European language family. Although this language comes from France, the heritage language is commonly spoken today throughout the US, with many speakers residing within California. Ultimately, I based my decision to research this diasporic language on the sources I found, the US Census, a book by Adrian Battye and the Modern Language Association. I found it interesting how, in California, we find French speakers concentrated in major cities. Although not as widespread as Spanish, French has a fair amount of speakers and there is plenty of information on this language.
A large number of people in the Hispanic community whether Hispanics are not able to get the English literacy skills that they need not because they want to keep born in Latin America or the United States, speak Spanish primarily. This is basically because in present day time, Hispanics are more likely to pass Spanish to their kids now than they have done in the past. (Ortiz, P.149) This is seen as a social problem, especially because of the fact that there is an increasing demand that English should only be taught in public school and it should also be spoken within the Spanish community. Even though Hispanics do speak a lot of Spanish most of the time, they still do learn English also, especially the young. But, because of the large flow of immigrants, the use of Spanish is used more often because they are constantly encountering immigrants who speak no English. (Ortiz, P. 150) Before hand there has been said to have been lower achievements when Hispanics make frequent use of the Spanish la...
Crawford, James. “A nation divided by one language.” Guardian.co.uk. 8 Mar 2001. Web. 11 October 2014
How to tame a wild tongue is an essay by Gloria Anzaldua. This essay focuses on the different types of Spanish people spoke, and in this case, Anzaldua focuses on losing an accent to adjust to the environment she was living in. The issue that was applied in this essay was that the Spanish she spoke wasn’t exactly considered “Spanish”. The essay was divided into different sections as where the author tries to let people know, her Spanish speaking language should be considered valid just like every other Spanish speaking language out there.
While reading this article one of the most shocking sections were when the students were talking to Monzó and sharing their outlook on their place and their language’s place in society. These students even at this early age are feeling how devalued their first language has been. They feel like they have to speak the right* English, only use English in public places, never their first language, and that they must assimilate to the American culture as much as possible. This reminded me of a chapter in Lippi-Green (2012)’s text. Within this chapter Lippi-Green (2012) discusses how in the United States Spanish speakers are not only expected to learn English but they are expected to learn and utilize the right* English determined by the majority and assimilate entirely to American culture. Throughout Monzó and Rueda (2009)’s text the children in conversations expressed their observation of the social order in relation to language and race. This was surprising to me since they are only in 5th grade. During a conversation with one of the children Monzó and Rueda (2009) recorded an alarming statement, “He said that his mother could not be considered American because she did not...
Spain is also home to 3 main languages other than spanish, which are Catalan, Galician, and Basque. Spanish is spoken by 74 percent of the population as their first language and is the national language, which makes sense as it is the most prevalent by far. The main riff is between spanish speakers and catalan speakers, as there is diversity in state whether the land that Catalan speakers dominantly occupy should be allowed to have independence from Spain.
Quebec is a distinct society within Canada (Darkside). With its own civil code, language, and a single dominant faith (Roman Catholic), French Quebec is defiantly distinctive from the rest of Canada and many Quebecois are fighting to preserve that distinction (Darkside). Francophones of Quebec are fighting not only to preserve this distinction but also to be recognized as an entity separate from Canada with acknowledged cultural differences ranging not only from religion, but from ethnic roots which spread to linguistic differences as well. This desire to preserve their culture is what makes them a politically relevant example of a country pursuing nationalistic causes. We will explore the ethnic and linguistic traits and cultural events that inspire Quebecois nationalism.
Historically, there was a close cultural link between southern France and Asia Minor. It appears that Iren...
To commence this discussion, it is first essential to establish an understanding surrounding the role of language in relation to national identity. Theoretically, the more power language has in this relation, the more powerful language planning may be when creating a national identity. However, the role language plays in this respect is somewhat problematic to define and has proven to be a debatable topic among nationalists, sociologists and sociolinguists. For instance, May demonstrates that ‘sociological commentators, unlike sociolinguists, have generally been loath to apportion a prominent role to language in the explanation of minority ethnic and national identity claims’ (2001: 8). Consequently emulating distaste from sociologists to credit language with significant power in a national identity. In a similar sense, de Vries notes that, in relation to a language community, ‘social scientists have generally ignored the systemic properties of language’ (1991: 39), thus, concurrently suggesting with May, a disagreement from the social sciences over the role of language in terms of identity and national identity. Similarly, circa the French revolution, the concept
Gofen, Ethel and Reymann, Blandine. Cultures of the World: France. New York: Times Media Private Limited, © 2003.