Corsicans concerned about fate of their language, national identity

The Corsican language, already under threat of extinction, may become forbidden in the only place in the world where its speakers live compactly - on the island of Corsica, Report informs.

Meanwhile, UNESCO earlier expressed concern about the threat to the Corsican language, which is a dialect of the Italian language used by about 150,000 speakers.

The latest dissatisfaction with the policy pursued by France regarding the Corsican language, moreover, the expression ‘Corsican people’ was caused by the decision of the court of the small town of Bastia to ban the use of this speech during debates in the assembly. The court considered both the use of language and expression unconstitutional, since the French Constitution calls French the state language, and the people of the country are exclusively French.

In fact, the decision of the court of a single town taken would not have become a reason for protests in Corsica and harsh statements by nationalist politicians if it didn’t set a precedent and potentially open the way for possible further oppression and prohibition of the language.

This is because the court decision followed a lawsuit filed by the prefect of Corsica - the highest representative of the central government on the island. This sequence of events raised concerns that similar bans on the use of Corsican in public debate might follow elsewhere.

Interestingly, all this is happening against the backdrop of negotiations that the administration of French President Emmanuel Macron is conducting with local politicians on granting Corsica more autonomy.

Back in 2018, Emmanuel Macron announced that the Corsican language would not receive official status on the island.

“In the spirit of this bilingualism, which enriches our republic, we must work together. But bilingualism is not giving official status to two languages, I want to tell you this very clearly,” said Macron, whose speech was broadcast by the press service of the Elysee Palace. “There is one official language within the French Republic and that is French,” he added.

Given Corsica’s strained relationship with the central government, all this paves the way for claims that the law deprives 150,000 people of the right to their national identity.