Chapter 1

Corsica, the Poor Relation

Within sociolinguistics, language policy is emerging as an important field of study at the start of the twenty-first century. Scholars are now able to refer to a growing canon of work in language policy, yet despite this growing interest, and given the prominence of France’s post-Revolution language planning in discussions of language management, it is perhaps surprising to find a new case study devoted entirely to the fate of Corsican. Recent important examinations of language policy (such as Cooper, 1989; Schiffman, 1996; Ager, 2001; Spolsky, 2004; Judge, 2007) have traced the outlines of France’s management of language questions and Spolsky (2004, 63), in what can be considered the handbook for language policy, describes France as ‘the paradigmatic case for strong ideology and management’. However, in spite of this focus upon French language policies, the case of Corsican, one of the languages of France, is frequently treated en passant, oftentimes with a reference to nationalist violence. It would not be inappropriate to state that, in certain circles, Corsican is considered the poor relation amongst the languages of France. Indeed, it is not unreasonable to observe that Corsican has been viewed in such a light when compared with the heritage languages spoken on mainland France. The causes of languages like Breton, Occitan and Catalan have enjoyed more visible attention in academic and lay writings, while Corsica as France’s island territory in the northern Mediterranean (and Corsican as a language) has, in its post-Revolution history, been overlooked or, at best, sidelined. In order to redress the balance, this book will analyse and chart how and to what end language policy has been undertaken on Corsica. The following chapters will seek to highlight how it is that the French State has sought to marginalize Corsican and how the two other key constituents in this language situation, namely language activists and the islanders themselves, have played their respective parts in attempting to redress France’s (in)famous language management.