Language Attitudes and Minority Rights

The Case of Catalan in France

James Hawkey

• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
• Year: 2018
• Print ISBN: 9783319745961
• eBook ISBN: 9783319745978
• Topic: Languages & Linguistics
• Subtopic: Phonetics & Phonology
• Index: Languages & Linguistics

This book presents a detailed sociolinguistic study of the traditionally Catalan-speaking areas of Southern France, and sheds new light on language attitudes, phonetic variation, language ideologies and minority language rights. The region's complex dual identity, both Catalan and French, both peripheral and strategic, is shown to be reflected in the book's attitudinal findings which in turn act as reliable predictors of phonetic variation. The author's careful discursive analysis paints a clear picture of the linguistic ideological landscape: in which French dominates as the language of status and prestige. This innovative work, employing cutting-edge mixed methods, provides an in-depth account of an under-examined language situation, and draws on this research to propose a number of policy recommendations to protect minority rights for speakers of Catalan in the region. Combining language attitudes, sociophonetics, discourse studies, and language policy, this will provide an invaluable reference for scholars of French and Catalan studies and minority languages around the world.

© The Author(s) 2018

James HawkeyLanguage Attitudes and Minority Rightshttps://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-74597-8_1

Begin Abstract

1. Research Context: Northern Catalonia

James Hawkey¹

(1)

School of Modern Languages, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK

End Abstract

This chapter offers an in-depth discussion of the research context, focusing on the history of Northern Catalonia and the resultant linguistic situation. Section 1.1 presents the demographics of the region, as well as clarifying the differences between Northern Catalonia, the Pyrénées-Orientales and Roussillon. Section 1.2 consists of an overview of the history of Northern Catalonia from the eighth century to the present day, and how this has contributed to current identity politics in the area. Section 1.3 focuses on the external history of the French and Catalan languages in Northern Catalonia, which, when viewed in the broader socio-historical context given in Sect. 1.2, will allow for an understanding of present-day attitudes and ideologies regarding the two languages. Section 1.4 provides a detailed description of the autochthonous language varieties spoken in twenty-first century Northern Catalonia, giving the relevant phonetic characteristics of local and supralocal varieties of French and Catalan. This chapter will thus ensure familiarity with the linguistic, ideological and political history of Northern Catalonia, as well as with the language varieties that have emerged as a result. With full contextual knowledge, this case study can then be examined through the prism of the attitudes-policy interface presented in the introduction.

1.1 Where Is Northern Catalonia?

Northern Catalonia (Cat. Catalunya (del) Nord,¹ Fr. Catalogne (du) Nord) is the name given in this book to a collection of historic districts (Cat. comarques, singular comarca) situated at the southernmost point of mainland metropolitan France, at the eastern end of the Pyrenees. These comarques—Roussillon (Cat. Rosselló), Conflent, Vallespir , Cerdagne (Cat. Alta Cerdanya) and Capcir —correspond to different geographical features: the valleys of Conflent, Vallespir and Cerdagne , the Capcir plateau and the Roussillon plain. As we will see at various points in the book, there is still an acute awareness of these different historic comarques, with each retaining a somewhat separate identity. The comarques of Northern Catalonia all form part of the present-day French administrative département of Pyrénées-Orientales , along with the traditionally Occitan speaking comarca of Fenouillèdes (Cat. Fenolleda, Occ. Fenolheda). As such, the terms Northern Catalonia and Pyrénées-Orientales , while often used interchangeably, are subtly different (Fig. 1.1).²

Fig. 1.1

Map of the Pyrénées-Orientales , detailing the different comarques

Demographically, Northern Catalonia is dominated by the city of Perpignan (Cat. Perpinyà) and its greater metropolitan area, which occupies a large part of the comarca of Roussillon (see Table 1.1).

Table 1.1

Population statistics (INSEE 2015) for Pyrénées-Orientales , divided by traditional comarca and urban area of Perpignan

Comarca	Population
Conflent	23,365
Vallespir	30,522
Cerdagne	12,148
Capcir	1559
Roussillon	395,485	Perpignan city	123,089
		Perpignan suburbs	195,288
		Roussillon other	77,108
Fenouillèdes	8494
Total	471,573

Given its importance in terms of population, it is unsurprising that Roussillon frequently overshadows the other Northern Catalan comarques. The term Roussillon /Rosselló is often used in French and Catalan as a synonym for Northern Catalonia as a whole, with the terms roussillonais/rossellonès employed to refer to the varieties of Catalan spoken in the region.³ Indeed, prior to the Revolution, France was organised into provinces, and the pre-Revolution province of Roussillon included the comarques of Conflent, Vallespir , Cerdagne and Capcir . However, for our present purposes, the generalisation of the term Roussillon is problematic, given the distinct character of each Northern Catalan comarca. The popular usage of Roussillon as a designation for the whole region is also potentially ambiguous: does the term refer to the historic comarca or the whole of Northern Catalonia? For this reason, the term Northern Catalonia is used here when discussing the whole region under examination, with Roussillon reserved for the comarca. Pyrénées-Orientales , where it is used, refers to the administrative département, that is to say, Northern Catalonia plus the Fenouillèdes .

Due to its linguistic and cultural heritage, Northern Catalonia forms part of a larger entity known as the Catalan Countries (Cat. Els Països Catalans ). The Catalan Countries is chiefly cultural in nature, and corresponds to the areas where Catalan is an autochthonous language variety, namely Catalonia, Northern Catalonia, Andorra, the Valencian Community, the Balearic Islands, the city of Alghero (l’Alguer) in Sardinia, a section of Aragon known as the Franja de Ponent, and a small area of the Autonomous Community of Murcia known as El Carxe. These regions share a complex relationship, with varying degrees of “pan-Catalan” sentiment claimed by different groups at different times. The role played by Northern Catalonia as part of both France and the Catalan Countries will be examined in the following historical overview.

1.2 Historical Overview of Northern Catalonia

Present-day Northern Catalonia is the product of a complex history, at various times falling under Catalan, Spanish and French jurisdiction. Inhabitants of the region exhibit multiple, co-occurring national and regional identities, which are best initially examined through study of the history of Northern Catalonia. While the area is of central strategic importance on the Mediterranean coast, for centuries it has found itself at the periphery of a number of great nation-states. This history of the region will reveal a number of political and ideological shifts, which will contribute to our understanding of the manifestations of identity in modern Northern Catalonia.

In 711, Muslim troops landed in Gibraltar and quickly swept northwards, taking control of the Iberian Peninsula, before crossing the Pyrenees six years later to occupy vast swathes of Gaul. The areas along the eastern Pyrenees were reconquered by the Frankish king Pepin the Short in the mid eighth century, with his son Charlemagne continuing incursions southwards to quell the Muslims on Iberian soil. This reconquered Frankish territory along the Pyrenees (and spreading south as far the Ebro Delta) comprised a series of independent pre-feudal counties, collectively known as the Marca Hispànica, a buffer zone between the Moorish south and the Frankish north, which prevented further Muslim attacks on Gaul. This territory is also referred to retrospectively as Catalunya Vella (Old Catalonia) and encompassed the entire region of Northern Catalonia as well as the northern part of today’s autonomous community of Catalonia . The various counties of Catalunya Vella paid tribute to overlords in Gaul, and their borders potentially corresponded to pre-existing (Visigothic) administrative divisions in the region (Ferrando Francés and Nicolás Amorós 2011: 47). The first manifestation of unity between the Catalan counties came about during the reign of the fabled Guifré I el Pelós (r. 870–897), count of Urgell and Cerdanya in the Pyrenees, who went on to acquire the counties of Barcelona, Osona, Girona and Conflent. Guifré I thus united land from north of the Pyrenees to beyond the city of Barcelona under one ruler (although these territories were subsequently divided among his successors), and his descendants remain in power to this day, as the monarchs of Spain. The eastern Pyrenees (including the area corresponding to present-day inland Northern Catalonia) is often seen as the cradle of Catalan culture, as the region from which the early Catalan counts (as well as the masses of people who accompanied them) originated. Of course, the use of ‘Catalan’ to describe these areas at this time is somewhat anachronistic. Although the counts of Barcelona and the eastern Pyrenees go on to rule areas that would with time be considered indisputably Catalan, and while Guifré el Pelós is arguably the most central figure in the Catalan origin story, the term ‘Catalan’ does not yet exist in the late ninth century, and any sense of unity among these territories is still embryonic.

Frankish influence over the Catalan counties diminished in the centuries following Charlemagne’s death, so as to be practically non-existent by the tenth century (Ferrando Francés and Nicolás Amorós 2011: 49). This was confirmed in 984, when Count Borrell II of Barcelona asked his Capetian overlords for assistance in defending his city against attacks from Moorish forces. Help never came and as a result, the Catalan counties gained de facto independence in 988; from this point on, each count exercised complete economic, legal and administrative control over their territory (Marcet i Juncosa 2015: 31–32). The marriage of Count Ramon Berenguer IV of Barcelona and Petronilla of Aragon in 1137 resulted in the dynastic union between the counts of Barcelona and the crown of Aragon. The coastal county of Rosselló (corresponding to the Roussillon plain in present-day Northern Catalonia) paid homage to the counts of Barcelona from 1131, and in 1172, total control passed to Alfons I of Barcelona, thus incorporating Rosselló into the domains of the Catalan-Aragonese crown. This early union of Catalan territories was accompanied by a repopulation movement from the Pyrenean counties of Pallars, Ribagorça, Urgell, Conflent and Cerdanya spreading southward to Barcelona.

The success of feudalism provided the necessary conditions of political and administrative stability for the first phase of Catalan colonial expansion in the twelfth century. This consisted of annexation and incorporation of land to the north: in addition to Provence (brought under Catalan control through a dynastic union in 1112), the territories of Béarn, Bigorre, Comminges, Carcassonne-Béziers, Nîmes and Melgueil were all required to pay fealt...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Front Matter
• 1. Research Context: Northern Catalonia
• 2. Theoretical and Methodological Considerations
• 3. Quantitative Approaches to Language Attitudes in Northern Catalonia
• 4. Phonetic Variation and Language Attitudes in Northern Catalonia
• 5. Qualitative Analysis: Spatial Discourses and Language Ideologies in Northern Catalonia
• 6. Discussion: Minority Language Rights in Northern Catalonia
• Back Matter