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francophonies ... The case and we

THE ORIGINS OF LANGUAGE

French, before becoming an international language, was primarily an amalgam of dialects derived from Latin and has undergone various regional influences, whether from the Gauls (which has not kept many words, as Syagrius has not kept his head long) of Aleman, the Basques (who gave us the word "left") or the Normans.

It goes without saying that the consolidation of territory controlled by the king of the Franks, from the Carolingians, who has contributed to the mixing of dialects and the emergence of a truly national language. It is considered that the founding document of the French language was the Oath of Strasbourg, signed by Charles the Bald and Louis the Germanic, in the year 842. The document marks a break with the politics of Latin, the language of administration of the great kingdom of Charlemagne, which replaces the dialects spoken in each of the kingdoms born to burst - the language "Romance" (later French) and the "old high German" (later German). Languages cousins enemy languages, languages born of a partition.

Incubation of French "hexagon" and took about 9 centuries, therefore, from the Oath of Strasbourg (842) to the founding of the French Academy (1635), whose primary mission is to set the French language, give him the rules, to normalize it and to write the first official dictionary. The turning point of the maturing period is unquestionably the Ordinance of Villers-Cotterets (1539), which made French the official language of the administration of the Kingdom of France and its dependencies. Note that this order coincides almost exactly with the beginning of the French adventure in North America.

PERIOD OF THREE GEOGRAPHICAL EXPANSION OF FRENCH

1. The European cradle . The French language as popular (and not just administration) has spread first from a core cultural and political located in the northern part of France. We can consider that this period, which covers the establishment of a European core and its first radiation ranges from 842 to the year the year 1635. Through the various continental wars, the French followed the movements of the royal domain and kingdoms that went with it. Similarly, dialects of French have maintained in several territories conquered then lost, in countries which are today Belgium, Switzerland, Germany, Italy, Spain. For recent dialects of French, the cultural link with Paris has never been broken. For others, like the Catalan, the influence of a Another dominant language (English) has consummated the break and made it a separate language. We can consider that the European core contains now France, Belgium and, to a lesser extent, Switzerland. But the cultural production of metropolitan France is still dominant, its institutions are unparalleled linguistic and demographic weight is overwhelming (when compared to other Francophone communities in Europe).

2. The nuclei U.S.. The second period, which covers the period from the founding of Port Royal in Acadia (1604) to the permanent loss of New France (1763) and the break with the motherland, marking the establishment of a second core of speakers in North America. Language is not imposed, but exported and implanted (such as cattle, architecture, the seigneurial system and residents) as a tool of colonization, it has not been broken in continuity or permanent abandonment by his speakers. The territory was for a time, continuously, but it was actually composed of a mosaic of human settlements located in areas (ecumenical) favorable. The illusion of New France as a cohesive and uniform comes down to territorial claims on the size of a continent. In fact, the territory was colonized at different times, in different modes, for heterogeneous populations. These revolve around different centers of administration and human links or establish strategic variable levels with indigenous peoples (also heterogeneous). Acadia, St. Lawrence Valley and Great Lakes, Gaspe Peninsula, Richelieu Valley basins of the Ohio and Mississippi, the western plains, etc..

The break with the colonial power has prompted the nucleus of the plain of St. Lawrence, especially articulated around the axis Montreal-Quebec develop its own institutions. Louisiana, Acadia and other French settlements in North America have failed, contrary to the establishment of the St Lawrence, to establish continuity. We can cite the expulsion of the Acadians, the Foundation of Manitoba and the anti-French language laws as reasons for the lack of vitality of communities outside Quebec. For Louisiana, the political bargaining between the United States, Spain and France, and the mixing of populations, have diluted the francophone identity and led to a near extinction.

Note that I will not discuss in this section, small French dependency located around the world (the Caribbean to the Pacific via South America). Some of these areas or departments are francophone institutions overseas for a longevity comparable to ours (over 400 years in some cases), and have developed strong cultures and in many respects, remarkable . However, they are directly controlled by France, which provides (or requires) the material and cultural institutions.

3. The influence of the colonial empire . The third and final period of expansion of the language French mark the transition to a system of colonization, not human but culturally. It covers the years 1830 (conquest of Algiers) to 1958-1960 (decolonization movement in Africa). It is important to see how French has been imposed on dozens of people, who all spoke a different language. Some of these people spoke the same language, continuity, over a millennium. That French was imposed on Algerians, Vietnamese or Madagascar is a corollary of the establishment of the colonial empire, whose goals were both economic and political. When each of these peoples found independence, in new countries often arbitrary borders, he also found the right (some speak of the duty to remember ) to speak and teach a language that had been seen as "savage" who suddenly becomes language literature, academic language, the language of administration - their mother tongue, found. Arabic, Vietnamese, Peul, etc..

Under these conditions, French is relegated to the rank of 20th century language "diplomatic" as evidenced by the charters of the League and the UN, which implicitly recognize the importance colonial (but also "Institutional "And" philosophical ") of French cement diplomatic rapidly decay today. That these peoples have relegated to the status of French second language, or even third language or "language of the museum" should not be surprising. The "third Francophonie" second colonial empire is the one that originally did not want the French! We understand why today, the Francophonie has few strong French cultural centers. The Francophonie includes the European core, the core North American dependencies French overseas colonies and former "French second-hand." And us.

WE (AS) ARE A BEACON

The most vocal critics of the political ambitions of Quebeckers often emerge as an example of our assumed smallness, the argument of the complex of the colonized. The complicated relationship of love-hate relationship with France is often presented as evidence of the existence of this complex. The negotiations surrounding the vocabulary Quebecois and its international influence, the OLF, the acceptance of words in major dictionaries Quebec, Quebec purists (who reject anglicisms with a virulence unmatched) are however indications that our relationship with French language only not have the reflexes of the colonized ! Quite the contrary.

The colonized do not adopt the language of the colonizing power, rather he rejects. This reflex is to English.

The contemporary relationship between Quebec and France (since de Gaulle) is based more on mutual incomprehension, which is the source of many conflicts, ideological. Quebec seeks to establish a dialogue of equals, despite the near impossibility of the thing (given the asymmetry between the two entities: size, cultural influence, history, population, state sovereignty, economic power, institutions, etc.). Almost everything separates us, but the link is stronger roots than the rest.

is that Quebec does not consider itself a former colony of France. In fact, WE are not former colonies as are Algerians, Malians, Vietnamese. The French language we have never been imposed. WE are, somehow, a "lost tribe" of French North America, great-grand-son of France, has long been freed of maternal bonding but always conscious of this latent identity, of human warmth that is resistant to cold our climate and cultural pressures of our neighbors.

This situation is absolutely unique in the Francophonie. Let the other people or Francophone states. France is the cradle, the source and the lighthouse of la Francophonie. Belgium and Switzerland are part of the whole French proximity, in contact continuous and uninterrupted from the beginning. Other Francophone states in the world, received the French language as the language of replacing their national language as the language of domination often. French has long been in these countries, a hated language. Many have refused to return to their original language (be it Arabic, Fulani, Vietnamese, ...)

But not us. In Quebec, the language came with us in our luggage, and we always carried in our hearts, without a valid reason to reject it or choose another. Why choose another? Unlike the former colonized Algerians or the Vietnamese, for example, we have no other language ancestral to substitute French. French is a part of us, some dating back to origins as far away as the language itself.

And that's what makes us special place in the Francophonie. We also are a lighthouse.

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VLB, French-Canadians and wrens

Everyone heard the last firebrand published by VLB, so I will skip to the opinions. Ineffable and our ambassador of good taste multicultural civilization, which makes French Canadians much more than "peasants with credit cards" (as Gilles Martin Chauffier) happens presentations. Anyway ...

insults and personal attacks by Victor-Lévy Beaulieu (our "most prolific author" by Noah Richler - sic) to Michaelle Jean (our "head of state" according to Nicolas Sarkozy - sic) us away Unfortunately, the real debate: the power structures that we inherited our transformation from colony. Moreover, if the Governor-General takes more space is at the expense of our elected . Remain lucid.

Instead of out insults and puns doubtful from another era, Mr. Beaulieu would have done better to mention the "small colonial lottery", a term applied historically to the French kings, who were offered a small slice of power in Anglo-Saxon banquet. Read about this excellent book by Stephen Kelly, the little lottery , Boréal, 1997.

Gilles Lesage wrote in Le Devoir (Oct. 5 1997), about Kelly's book:

short, the essayist concludes, if the solution Durham triumph after 1837 is much less because of the clergy, which fiercely opposes the Act of Union in the early 1840s, as the parvenu, who succumbed to the lure of early colonial lottery. The red scream corruption. But it is a symbolic gesture.

For 130 years, says the sociologist, the upstart French-Canadian is in line with the tradition of [George-Étienne] Cartier. In times of national crisis, it appears as a traitor. His indictment, periodic increases throughout the twentieth century. The most famous occurred towards the end of the Duplessis era. The editorial Andre Laurendeau, "The theory of the king negro" (in Le Devoir on July 4, 1958), marks indeed the genesis of the Quiet Revolution, the birth of a new myth, that of French power ' and the "triumph of the therapeutic" ...

It is clear that the attempt to VLB is part of a learned man, very aware of the contemporary history of Quebec and drawing on sociological studies serious. BUT it is also worth noting that it is both in the form of discourse in and the arguments raised in the choice of words VLB shows us how it is firmly anchored in the past . The text of

Laurendeau exactly 50 years and has taken many wrinkles. Quebec had not yet at that time, lived his Quiet Revolution, and associated political power against colonial rule (in short, a collaboration with the stranger that represented the hated Anglo-Saxon and his court). Things have changed since that time the French were freed of some of their prejudices (against foreigners and power), Quebec has become a more complex society, less clear-cut with a knife. It is clear, however, that Quebecers are still an uneasy relationship with foreigners ... and power!

I recommend also reading the book of the late Jacques Bouchard, "The new sensitivities of Quebecers." To consider the progress, read together the first edition of the book, "The 36 chords of Quebecers," published 35 years earlier by the same author. What a journey, as changes in our society (the two most obvious being that awareness of "differences" that led to a certain rectitude policy, and the other is our openness to the world). It might be interesting to ask the friend Beaulieu if he read the new edition and, if not, to him the gift. History of guitar tuning.

Finally, Mr. Beaulieu speaks only in his own name. Those without short memories will recall that VLB has copiously insulted the sovereignty movement and the PQ in recent months and took her away. In his fief of Trois-Pistoles, this semi-hermit is somewhat disconnected from the social and political realities of the 21st century Quebec. But his literary work remains a monument and cultural wealth for us.

Beyond the obligation treason that should inspire our political separatists, it is important to stay within the bounds of good taste.

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Harper, Bouchard-Taylor and the Quebec nation

The report of the Bouchard-Taylor (2008) seems to be the absolute opposite of the report of the Bélanger-Campeau (1991). This shows how the Quebec Liberal party has flip-flopped and abandoned any intention of doing anything other than a Quebec "ordinary province and interchangeable."

THE PLACE ON IDENTITY

Quebec is now at a critical juncture in its modern identity questions, whose resolution has mobilized the entire political class in 40 years. Indeed, the "Quebec nation" (not her relationship with a historic territory, its institutions like the National Assembly or its objective existence) was tentatively recognized by the federal government, in a gesture whose significance is largely symbolic.

Meanwhile, no specific advantage seems to stem from this recognition, which begins to resemble the facts in a neutralization. The fiscal imbalance has been "approached" in a context not constitutional or legal, but the room at the whim of the Federal. The headquarters of Unesco is still in the carpenter's workshop. The consequences of this recognition of our language laws, Quebec on our institutions, our international relations, were not even considered by our government very timid provincialism.

And meanwhile, it's on TV English TV movie in honor of Elijah Harper, who killed the Meech Lake Accord. Indeed, Quebec has moved from defensive mode (under Bouchard) in standby mode (under Landry) in passive mode (in Charest). One has only to see the severe beating that nationalists and separatists in Quebec are undergoing at the " 400th anniversary of the founding of Canada (sic) by Champlain, which was not the first French 's establish America (re-sic), which was already under the jurisdiction of the King of England (re-re-sic) "sad rewriting of history and political manipulation of an event that could have been celebrated in dignity. It's enough to depress.

(note in passing that we can consider the founding of Acadia, Quebec and Louisiana as three events that are both bound by the French adventure in America, but quickly diverged in their outreach and their destinies. Foundation of Quebec should be seen as the foundation of Quebec , that is to say the starting point of a coherent and distinct human colonization in the St Lawrence. As I noted earlier in this blog, we must mention the far side of unifying the Francophonie of the Americas, the separate side - both historical and cultural - of each of its constituent nations.)

EXIT THE DEADLOCK?

The findings of the Bouchard-Taylor could, ironically, help us break the deadlock, provided that Ms. Marois do the necessary analysis and present a project that takes full advantage of the slingshot effect . Indeed, the Commission's report addresses the Quebec identity through the distorting mirror of multiculturalism in the Canadian way, an ideology which consciously ignoring the existence of national identities, to focus strictly on (1) civic identities and (2) individual identities.

This is curiously inconsistent with any recognition by the federal government of a "Quebec nation "!

The nations that a country can take refuge behind the concept of civic citizenship to avoid addressing the fundamental issues of identity, common values, tolerance. Quebecers are forced to cope, without recourse to circular reasoning that the "citizenship-nationality" offers an answer (for example: "Are all French nationals holders of French citizenship," "Are all Canadian nationality holders of Canadian citizenship, "etc.).

NO national or cultural identity could resist Grid analysis of multiculturalism, which serves to deconstruct the nation state to replace it, without one can lead to another or can be used to explain (ie, the state exists and state, the nation is by and for the state, the nation without a state does not exist).

Basically, the concept of collective identity does not exist anymore and is instead replaced (within a set state) by a territory inhabited by people, except perhaps in the case of a constitution that would guarantee at least that identity is mentioned . It is clear that the only way out is in identity constitutional and / or the creation of a state, then that would legitimize a nation that NOTHING ELSE, the ideology in vogue, can not tolerate.

ARE WE REALLY A MAJORITY?

Yes and no. Commissioners Bouchard and Taylor have mentioned several times that a society of law must avoid at all costs to the tyranny of the majority. However, we are a majority with very little power when compared to other cultural majorities in the world. We are in a somewhat absurd (a majority-minority with political power framed by other powers policies often contradictory).

Montreal Anglophones are a minority for their very relative, since they can count on the rest of North America to ensure their cultural exchanges, and their media outreach. They are part of an absolute majority in Canada. Their position of "minority within a minority within a majority," which is often mentioned, should not obscure their inclusion very real in most English-speaking North American culture. In other words, the fact that Montreal Anglophones are part of Quebec society and be "submitted" to the power of language laws, and the French cultural pressure, do not isolate any of the huge cultural complex English. After all, Ontario is only a few tens of kilometers from the West Island and it is easy to rub off the tongue more easily in one direction than another. Worries one in Ontario to see the French move to Cornwall triumphantly, like a steamroller, assimilating everything in its path?

CONCLUSION

Perhaps we should reflect on the trend, which is materialized in recent events as the Bouchard-Taylor, demand for French Quebec a majority responsibility when they have neither the powers associated with a status of majority (legal and constitutional power) nor the means to act majority (because they are in fact a national minority within Canada). It is customary to say that with freedoms come responsibilities. Okay! The reverse is also true. Demand the freedoms that come with these serious responsibilities we have just been imposed. We were asked to accept immigrants to integrate into our society, to align our services with the reality on the ground to enforce the secularization broad spectrum? To get there, we need more legal powers and constitutional . It is our responsibility ... to get them!