The State, the Activists and the Islanders: Language Policy on Corsica [Hardcover]

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.

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.

From the reviews:

Robert Blackwoods book fills a gap in the literature on the languages of France. & a very welcome addition to the library bookshelf. & the text very easy to follow and also allows the reader to go directly to the era that is of interest. There is a lot of detail in the history of the political context of language shift, language spread and language declinel£k