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Defending French in Flanders, 1873-1974 Between Liberty and Identity
Author
Title
Defending French in Flanders, 1873-1974 [electronic resource] : Between Liberty and Identity / by David J. Hensley.
ISBN
9783031109171
Edition
1st ed. 2023.
Publication
Cham : Springer International Publishing : Imprint: Palgrave Macmillan, 2023.
Physical Description
1 online resource (XV, 360 p.) 4 illus., 1 illus. in color.
Local Notes
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Summary
This book examines the efforts of the French-speaking minority in Flanders, Belgium to maintain a legal and social presence of the French language in Flemish public life. Chronologically, the study is bookended by two developments, almost exactly a century apart. In 1873, the first laws were passed which required the use of Dutch in some aspects of public administration in Flanders, challenging the de facto use of French among the Flemish ruling class. One hundred and one years later, the last French daily newspaper in Flanders collapsed, marking the end of a once-vibrant French-language public sphere in Flanders. The author contends that the methods and arguments by which French speakers defended the role of French in Flemish public life changed along with the social and political situation of this minority. As the Flemish movement grew over the course of the twentieth century, French speakers' appeals to the "free choice" of language lost traction, and they put forward claims that they represented an ethnolinguistic minority who deserved protection for their mother tongue. Providing new insights for scholars of European history, and in conversation with the literature on liberalism, national identity, and Francophonie, this book demonstrates how the debate over the role of French in Flanders was at the center of Belgium's ethnolinguistic conflict - the repercussions of which continue to be felt to this day. David J. Hensley is Associate Professor of History at Georgia Highlands College, USA. He previously taught at Queen's University Belfast and the University of Central Oklahoma.
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Format
Books / Online
Language
English
Added to Catalog
January 17, 2024
Contents
Chapter 1: Introduction
Chapter 2: Dominance Challenged: The French-Speakers of Flanders and Calls for Linguistic Equality before World War I
Chapter 3: A War of Words: Invasion, Occupation, and the Shattering of Flanders's Linguistic Equilibrium, 1914-1918
Chapter 4: From Resurgence to Retreat: The French-Speakers of Flanders from the End of World War I to the Language Laws of the 1930s
Chapter 5: An Uneasy Status Quo, 1932-1960
Chapter 6: Decline and Fall: The Last Fights for French in Flanders, 1960-1974
Chapter 7: Conclusion: The Continued Presence of the Francophones of Flanders.
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