*DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.81481*

**3.4 Analysis of Irina's case**

formulated as Greek identity.

**4.1 Anna's case**

**4. To be or not to be a Greek woman**

10According to my field materials of 2009–2011 from Athens, Thessalonica, Alexandroupolis, and Kamena Vourla.

*The Appropriation of Discourses and Practices: Female Migration from Russia to Greece… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.81481*

#### **3.4 Analysis of Irina's case**

*Advances in Discourse Analysis*

a Greek for her means to have full civil rights.

departed for Greece and her next marriage.

**3.3 Irina's case**

major problems. What can be related to difficulties of appropriation is the language and bureaucratic procedures of confirmation of foreign diplomas and other documents. But even here, it all turned out successfully for Anna. She mastered the New Greek language pretty quickly and received her confirmed diploma also quickly. Many migrants from Russia complained about their poor command of the language, explaining it with that they just had no time to attend language courses due to their work; and if they for all that attended classes they fell asleep from exhaustion.10 As for the diploma's confirmation, a friend of mine, the migrant from Georgia, has been waiting for such a confirmation for 15 years, and after that, he got a suggestion to pass eight qualifying exams; he rejected this suggestion ([3]: 137–155). Anna was able to find job according to her specialty and, consequently, to use her educational capital for the access to the field of pharmaceutics in Greece thanks to she had got the confirmation of her diploma. The technique of appropriation Anna demonstrates allowed her not to break, not to deny her Russian identity, and use it for the purpose of career growth and financial independence in Greece (even if she puts Israel repatriation program ahead of Greek one). Her Greek identity is not ethnic but civic. Anna is still indifferent ethnically; she condemns Greek nationalism to be

Irina recounts hardly anything about her first 2 years in Greece. On the base of her unrelated phrases from our conversations and occasional recollections, it is possible to state that when she had just arrived, she forfeited her passport. Her future second husband, Tanos, decided to marry her and searched for a long time for "those bad people" who had kept her passport. He redeemed the passport for 300 Euro, and then spent a lot of time helping to procure a new visa for her because her first visa had expired long before. When she got the new visa thanks to Tanos, Irina went to Russia in order to divorce her first husband. When she arrived at her village, she discovered that her husband was in prison again for a fresh crime, making her divorce proceedings easier. When she was divorced, she took her son away and

Her future husband, Tanos, had met Irina in one of the Patrassian night clubs, where she worked. He came from a peasant family; his parents own large plots of land that they use as fields, vegetable gardens, melon fields, and live-stock farms; the major part of their land consists of old olive groves. All his family (Tanos' parents and aunt, and Tanos himself as an eldest son) lived together in the village situated on a plain between Patra and Pyrgos. Tanos' brother and sister had already resided separately up to the time of Tanos and Irina's marriage. Everybody in Tanos' family knows that Irina is Russian, and they treat her kindly. This situation is possible because the family shares the common Greek discourse of a benevolent relationship to Russia and Russians. Moreover, this family has a friendly attitude toward Russians because Tanos' grandfather bought the biggest part of his lands, basically olive groves, from a Russian emigrant who had escaped to Greece after the Russian revolution of 1917. According to a family tale, that emigrant, being familiar with the limited means of grandfather's family, had sold the land at a very

Irina and Tanos married in 1996, three and a half years after Irina's first arrival in

10According to my field materials of 2009–2011 from Athens, Thessalonica, Alexandroupolis, and

**42**

low price.

Kamena Vourla.

Greece.

For Irina, her first year in Greece is also connected to a negative experience and stays also in the shadow of her contemporary successes as well as the Russian period of her life. Details begin together with appearance the figure of Tanos in her life. Unharmed joining Tanos' family for Irina was conditioned upon her not big agrarian capital and, the most important, that she aspired to full appropriation of Greek identity (see details below). It was important that her ethnic capital, her Russiannes, did not manifested by her in any form. Her coming back to Russia connected to her divorce and obtaining a new visa was necessary only for that she could get repeatedly married and take the son with her. Irina does not plan her return to Russia and connects her future with Greece only. And her identity begins to be formulated as Greek identity.

#### **4. To be or not to be a Greek woman**

#### **4.1 Anna's case**

When Anna had been working for about 2 years at a large Athenian pharmacy, she met our common friend, Antonios, who recommended her to his acquaintance, Odysseus, the owner of a finance company. Anna gets a senior position there with a high salary and becomes an economist. Moreover, she enters university and is awarded a diploma in economics while continuing to work for that company. The friendship with Antonios and the beginning of work at the financial company mark a new period in Anna's life. It is possible to say that during this period, her identity, which is based on discourses of *intelligentsia*, *independence*, and *full rights*, forms completely. Antonios acted as her proposer not only to that company but also to the Russian Embassy, to various organizations, both state and nongovernmental, which were engaged in bilateral international relations between Greece and Russia.11

Thus, Anna has changed not only her profession but also her technique of appropriation; during the first two periods of her migration history, she aspired not to make contact with natives of Russia and had built up her social networks on the basis of interactions with locals. However, from the moment of her acquaintance with Antonios, her social networks expand significantly with her new contacts in the sphere of Greek-Russian international relations. Using Bourdieu's terminology [13], it is possible to say that she invests, on one hand, her bilingualism, and on the other hand, the symbolic capital developed both in Russian and in Greek educational fields to fields novel to her: cultural,12 economic,13 political,14 and even scientific.15

14I mean her work in commissions maintaining international agreements.

11The financial company where Anna worked was connected to Russia and not only commercially. Its owner, Odysseus, millionaire and communist, was from a rural Greek family who supported communists in the time of the Civil War in Greece. Odysseus' father spent 15 years behind bars (see more about political repressions after the Civil War in: [17]) while Odysseus was living in the USSR, where he was awarded a doctoral degree in medicine. His financial company Odysseus was registered in Great Britain. 12As an organizer, she participated in various "cultural" events conducted in the Russian embassy and consulates.

13I mean her activity at the financial company concerning deals between the company and Russian organizations.

15She is a member of the non-governmental Russian-Greek scientific organization.

After 4 years of working for the financial company, Anna became a victim of colleagues' intrigues who were wary of her career development, and the owner of the company had to dismiss her. When Anna became unemployed, she had to leave her rented flat. She decided not to rent in future and bought a flat in one of the Athenian districts. After about half a year, she found a job as a medical insurance agent for a foreign company. She is pleased with her new work inasmuch as this work satisfies her aspiration to independence much more than others. Furthermore, she continues collaborating in various Greek-Russian organizations.

#### **4.2 Analysis of Anna's case**

From a social perspective, Anna stresses her intellectuality stemming from her family and education. From an ethnic perspective, she positions herself as a Greek although usually she uses this term in the sense of citizenship. She speaks about "Greek Greeks" mainly in the third person and the Rusoponti16 or Russians in general as "us." Anna is disposed critically to Greek nationalism; social parameters of a person are always more important to her than ethnic ones are (as in the case of her discussion of school parades in: ([3]: 145–146). She rarely touches upon the question of ethnicity and formulates her identity as I have already noted using such social concepts as intellectuality (Rus. *intelligentnost'*), independence, and full rights (Rus. *polnopravie*). That is, ethnic identity for her is just an instrument; hence, she was allowed full rights in the host country and to realize her identity as an independent and intellectual (Rus. *intelligentnaia*) woman. Anna keeps some distant from dominating Greek society nationalistic discourses and allows to herself a particular criticism of them from the intellectual point of view, demonstrating in such a way her independence. It is very important to her to stand up for her rights as a full member of the Greek society when she is stigmatized negatively as a foreigner, as a non-Greek.17

She votes for candidates of small parties that have never been in power in Greece, but they propose programs corresponding to her identity (for instance, the Green Party); she convinced her colleagues (at the financial company) that all the languages (ethnicities) are equal and compelled them to engage a specialist in the Russian language in order to speak in their office in Russian. Certainly, such a measure could only be realized in cities like Athens or Thessalonica, and I doubt whether it would be implemented in a village community, for example, in Irina's village. Anna is indifferent to religion and the church, although she had been baptized

**45**

**4.4 Analysis of Irina's case**

*The Appropriation of Discourses and Practices: Female Migration from Russia to Greece…*

career form the same semantic frame in the discourse on her identity.

long time. None of her children speaks Russian, not even the eldest son.

for bread, which Irina's mother-in-law bakes every week, and so on.

in Russia when she was a baby. In analyzing Anna's migration story, it is possible to note that the idea of career has an important significance to her, and her biography been built retrospectively represent the history of her career development. Her independence is contingent on her career, and vice-versa., that is, independence and

Irina's marriage to Tanos was registered at the local church in 1996. She gave birth to eight more children (she has got six boys and three girls altogether; the eldest son was 18, the youngest daughter 3 at the moment of our meeting). She can talk a lot about God and the Orthodox Church, although she did not go to church in Russia before her departure. All Irina's children were baptized. Their names were chosen according to local rules in honor of elder relatives of her husband, excluding two sons: the eldest who was given his name in Russia, and one of Tanos' sons who was named after the oath taken by Irina to the Blessed Virgin. At the time of our acquaintance, Irina spoke Russian with an accent, remembering some words for a

Irina tries to behave "as a Greek woman" entirely sharing all the family's practices and discourses. For example, she reacted negatively, together with all the family, to her brother-in-law's decision to marry an Albanian woman. Her aspiration "to be a Greek" is expressed in that she fully supports practices connected to the status of daughter-in-law: she dresses herself as a rural married woman preferring dark colors, she prepares both everyday "simple village food" and holiday dishes, except

Mainly Irina speaks about the Greeks as "us." Her Rusoponti friends say that Irina speaks Greek better than they do, as a "natural Greek." She has never aspired to independence. Her current lifestyle suits her completely. She holds great respect for her husband; at least, I did not hear any disrespectful words from her concerning Tanos. She also speaks respectfully of her husband's relatives (excluding her brotherin-law's wife of Albanian origin). She visits Russia once every 2 to 3 years, but the main aim of her travels to Russia is the question of real estate. During Irina's years spent in Greece, her mother and brother both died of alcoholism. Their houses are the subject of a longstanding dispute between Irina and her sister. Irina tries to travel to Russia without children but sometimes she has to take her little babies with her.

As I have already mentioned, Irina prefers to remain silent about matters concerning her Russian family, and at first glance, this nondisclosure may be characterized by the situation of nonidentity as one of Schneider's informants put it ([2]: 168). However,

I would note that the nondisclosure plus negativity forms a certain discourse on identity, which serves as a referent antithesis in Irina's search for a "happy life." In this sense, the respect and regard that Irina demonstrates toward her parents-in-law are determined not only (and not so much) by a technique of appropriation of Greekness but also by the direct influence of the discourse on Irina's parental family. For example, in viewing her parental family as a negative model, Irina is an initiator of banning any consumption of alcohol (including beer) in her family (to be exact, anywhere on the household premises) which involved my family as well. She justifies the ban by saying that her children do not have to become alcoholics. All the members of the household support this ban. At the same time, Irina is barely concerned about drinking outside the house. It was interesting to note that even on her father-in-law's celebration day, where many guests were present, there were no alcoholic drinks on the tables.

*DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.81481*

**4.3 Irina's case**

16The Greek term *rusoponti* means 'Russian Pontians' or 'Pontic Greeks from Russia.' The term *Pontians* is a general mobilizing name for the post-perestroika Greek ethnic mobilization in post-Soviet countries, as well as a usual name for Greek migrants from those countries to Greece. However, some groups of migrants prefer to use other terms in order to manifest their identities (see about the term *Pontic* in: [3, 18–20]. 17One of the examples: one day, Anna, waiting in a supermarket queue, conversed in Russian with her guest from Russia. When they came up to the cashier, "she began chatting with her colleague and ignored us for a long time." Anna tried to attract her attention, but heard "her caddish remark in the spirit of 'nobody called you to Greece." Anna demanded to see her manager and the woman who was chatting with the cashier introduced herself as a tour manager and recommended that Anna appeal to the police if she felt abused. Anna paid for her purchases, accompanied her friend to a car, then she came back to the cashier, claimed that she was a Greek citizen, and was not going to tolerate such rude, ignorant behavior. She found out the names of both women, participants in the conflict, and informed them that she was going to go to the police and to the court seeking for their dismissals. After that the cashier apologized for her remarks, begged for forgiveness and urged Anna not to go to the police. Eventually, Anna said: "I'll think it over." However, she did not go to the police knowing how difficult it is to find work as of a check-out assistant at a supermarket. During our conversations, I heard numerous stories of this sort from Anna, where she asserts her rights using her status of a citizen.

in Russia when she was a baby. In analyzing Anna's migration story, it is possible to note that the idea of career has an important significance to her, and her biography been built retrospectively represent the history of her career development. Her independence is contingent on her career, and vice-versa., that is, independence and career form the same semantic frame in the discourse on her identity.

#### **4.3 Irina's case**

*Advances in Discourse Analysis*

**4.2 Analysis of Anna's case**

After 4 years of working for the financial company, Anna became a victim of colleagues' intrigues who were wary of her career development, and the owner of the company had to dismiss her. When Anna became unemployed, she had to leave her rented flat. She decided not to rent in future and bought a flat in one of the Athenian districts. After about half a year, she found a job as a medical insurance agent for a foreign company. She is pleased with her new work inasmuch as this work satisfies her aspiration to independence much more than others. Furthermore,

From a social perspective, Anna stresses her intellectuality stemming from her family and education. From an ethnic perspective, she positions herself as a Greek although usually she uses this term in the sense of citizenship. She speaks about "Greek Greeks" mainly in the third person and the Rusoponti16 or Russians in general as "us." Anna is disposed critically to Greek nationalism; social parameters of a person are always more important to her than ethnic ones are (as in the case of her discussion of school parades in: ([3]: 145–146). She rarely touches upon the question of ethnicity and formulates her identity as I have already noted using such social concepts as intellectuality (Rus. *intelligentnost'*), independence, and full rights (Rus. *polnopravie*). That is, ethnic identity for her is just an instrument; hence, she was allowed full rights in the host country and to realize her identity as an independent and intellectual (Rus. *intelligentnaia*) woman. Anna keeps some distant from dominating Greek society nationalistic discourses and allows to herself a particular criticism of them from the intellectual point of view, demonstrating in such a way her independence. It is very important to her to stand up for her rights as a full member of the Greek society when she is stigmatized negatively as a foreigner, as a non-Greek.17 She votes for candidates of small parties that have never been in power in Greece, but they propose programs corresponding to her identity (for instance, the Green Party); she convinced her colleagues (at the financial company) that all the languages (ethnicities) are equal and compelled them to engage a specialist in the Russian language in order to speak in their office in Russian. Certainly, such a measure could only be realized in cities like Athens or Thessalonica, and I doubt whether it would be implemented in a village community, for example, in Irina's village. Anna is indifferent to religion and the church, although she had been baptized

16The Greek term *rusoponti* means 'Russian Pontians' or 'Pontic Greeks from Russia.' The term *Pontians* is a general mobilizing name for the post-perestroika Greek ethnic mobilization in post-Soviet countries, as well as a usual name for Greek migrants from those countries to Greece. However, some groups of migrants prefer to use other terms in order to manifest their identities (see about the term *Pontic* in: [3, 18–20]. 17One of the examples: one day, Anna, waiting in a supermarket queue, conversed in Russian with her guest from Russia. When they came up to the cashier, "she began chatting with her colleague and ignored us for a long time." Anna tried to attract her attention, but heard "her caddish remark in the spirit of 'nobody called you to Greece." Anna demanded to see her manager and the woman who was chatting with the cashier introduced herself as a tour manager and recommended that Anna appeal to the police if she felt abused. Anna paid for her purchases, accompanied her friend to a car, then she came back to the cashier, claimed that she was a Greek citizen, and was not going to tolerate such rude, ignorant behavior. She found out the names of both women, participants in the conflict, and informed them that she was going to go to the police and to the court seeking for their dismissals. After that the cashier apologized for her remarks, begged for forgiveness and urged Anna not to go to the police. Eventually, Anna said: "I'll think it over." However, she did not go to the police knowing how difficult it is to find work as of a check-out assistant at a supermarket. During our conversations, I heard numerous stories of this sort

from Anna, where she asserts her rights using her status of a citizen.

she continues collaborating in various Greek-Russian organizations.

**44**

Irina's marriage to Tanos was registered at the local church in 1996. She gave birth to eight more children (she has got six boys and three girls altogether; the eldest son was 18, the youngest daughter 3 at the moment of our meeting). She can talk a lot about God and the Orthodox Church, although she did not go to church in Russia before her departure. All Irina's children were baptized. Their names were chosen according to local rules in honor of elder relatives of her husband, excluding two sons: the eldest who was given his name in Russia, and one of Tanos' sons who was named after the oath taken by Irina to the Blessed Virgin. At the time of our acquaintance, Irina spoke Russian with an accent, remembering some words for a long time. None of her children speaks Russian, not even the eldest son.

Irina tries to behave "as a Greek woman" entirely sharing all the family's practices and discourses. For example, she reacted negatively, together with all the family, to her brother-in-law's decision to marry an Albanian woman. Her aspiration "to be a Greek" is expressed in that she fully supports practices connected to the status of daughter-in-law: she dresses herself as a rural married woman preferring dark colors, she prepares both everyday "simple village food" and holiday dishes, except for bread, which Irina's mother-in-law bakes every week, and so on.

Mainly Irina speaks about the Greeks as "us." Her Rusoponti friends say that Irina speaks Greek better than they do, as a "natural Greek." She has never aspired to independence. Her current lifestyle suits her completely. She holds great respect for her husband; at least, I did not hear any disrespectful words from her concerning Tanos. She also speaks respectfully of her husband's relatives (excluding her brotherin-law's wife of Albanian origin). She visits Russia once every 2 to 3 years, but the main aim of her travels to Russia is the question of real estate. During Irina's years spent in Greece, her mother and brother both died of alcoholism. Their houses are the subject of a longstanding dispute between Irina and her sister. Irina tries to travel to Russia without children but sometimes she has to take her little babies with her.

#### **4.4 Analysis of Irina's case**

As I have already mentioned, Irina prefers to remain silent about matters concerning her Russian family, and at first glance, this nondisclosure may be characterized by the situation of nonidentity as one of Schneider's informants put it ([2]: 168). However, I would note that the nondisclosure plus negativity forms a certain discourse on identity, which serves as a referent antithesis in Irina's search for a "happy life." In this sense, the respect and regard that Irina demonstrates toward her parents-in-law are determined not only (and not so much) by a technique of appropriation of Greekness but also by the direct influence of the discourse on Irina's parental family. For example, in viewing her parental family as a negative model, Irina is an initiator of banning any consumption of alcohol (including beer) in her family (to be exact, anywhere on the household premises) which involved my family as well. She justifies the ban by saying that her children do not have to become alcoholics. All the members of the household support this ban. At the same time, Irina is barely concerned about drinking outside the house. It was interesting to note that even on her father-in-law's celebration day, where many guests were present, there were no alcoholic drinks on the tables.

The fact that Irina has an experience of life in Russia and, moreover, in a Russian village, has played a positive role in the process of her integration into the Greek rural family. That is, her identity is formed as anti-identity (we should not talk about non-identity, though) on the discursive level, but she had villager's identity on the level of practices.

During the period of her life in Greece, significant changes have taken in Irina's identity. The negative Russian experience pushed her to intensive appropriation of Greekness. As a result, Irina became a respectful woman not only in her family but also in the village. Greek identity includes religiosity, too. Irina becomes an active person of Orthodox faith; she visits the local church regularly; together with Tanos, they make a pilgrimage to different holy places of Greece annually. Immediately before our arrival, they had returned from such a pilgrimage and brought with them a local icon painted on stone especially for us. Irina told me a lot about her charitable activity connected to the church. Rejecting her Russian experience, Irina destroys her Russian family for the purpose of creation her new Greek family. I have no possibility to document a lot of details of my observations, but I can express them in such a way: Irina is a Greek in a greater degree that her Greek relatives. And this is the result of her intensive appropriation of Greek discourses and practices.

#### **5. Conclusion: comparing variants of appropriation of Greekness**

The biographies described previously (even in their very summed up form) express two tendencies that may be characterized as two techniques of appropriation. The object of appropriation in my cases is "Greekness" (i.e., the complex of practices and discourses appropriate to certain local communities as well as the Greek language which is both an object and an instrument simultaneously).

In comparing two stories and two techniques of appropriation, it is evident that Irina's technique is expressed in a "complete" or "maximum possible" appropriation of Greekness, while Anna builds a career. In other words, Anna creates something new for herself, conceiving Greekness both as a context and an instrument but not as a desired result of what she has to possess/become. In this sense, her technique may be defined, following Sansi [9], as re-appropriation. Anna creates her own "world" of her Greekness on the basis of nonethnic identity, on the basis of intellectuality together with personal independence and Greek citizenship as main discourses of her identity. It is also important that Irina migrated "from village to village," while Anna migrated "from city to city." This re-confirms my main argument that different techniques of appropriation are due to different pre-emigration experiences. In other words, Irina gained Greek identity; she became a respectful Greek rural woman, guarding local practices and discourses. Anna, appropriating Greek identity, restored that position she lost in Russia, and then by means of re-appropriation moved beyond. However, her move is understood by her as a career development and as an acquisition of full civil rights with a possibility of critical intellectualism. Her contemporary identity is Greek one, but it is based on her previous Russian identity and could be become Israeli or any other identity.18 Such an identity can be considered as global because the possibility of it is provided by resemblance of social fields in different states and a chance of transferal of symbolic capital over borders.

**47**

**Author details**

Alexander Manuylov

provided the original work is properly cited.

© 2019 The Author(s). Licensee IntechOpen. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/ by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium,

Pirogov Russian National Research Medical University, Moscow, Russia

\*Address all correspondence to<EMAIL_ADDRESS>
*The Appropriation of Discourses and Practices: Female Migration from Russia to Greece…*

*DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.81481*

18It does not mean that she rejects dominant discourses and practices or communication and ties with people in Greece. But, she could retain her critical intellectual position. The process of appropriation of Greekness is not a vital task for her because she "already is a Greek woman" and her Greek ethnicity was confirmed by two states—Russia and Greece. Therefore, she had a possibility (or just created it for herself) to adopt an independent position.

*The Appropriation of Discourses and Practices: Female Migration from Russia to Greece… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.81481*

### **Author details**

*Advances in Discourse Analysis*

on the level of practices.

The fact that Irina has an experience of life in Russia and, moreover, in a Russian village, has played a positive role in the process of her integration into the Greek rural family. That is, her identity is formed as anti-identity (we should not talk about non-identity, though) on the discursive level, but she had villager's identity

During the period of her life in Greece, significant changes have taken in Irina's identity. The negative Russian experience pushed her to intensive appropriation of Greekness. As a result, Irina became a respectful woman not only in her family but also in the village. Greek identity includes religiosity, too. Irina becomes an active person of Orthodox faith; she visits the local church regularly; together with Tanos, they make a pilgrimage to different holy places of Greece annually. Immediately before our arrival, they had returned from such a pilgrimage and brought with them a local icon painted on stone especially for us. Irina told me a lot about her charitable activity connected to the church. Rejecting her Russian experience, Irina destroys her Russian family for the purpose of creation her new Greek family. I have no possibility to document a lot of details of my observations, but I can express them in such a way: Irina is a Greek in a greater degree that her Greek relatives. And this is the result of her intensive appropriation of Greek discourses and practices.

**5. Conclusion: comparing variants of appropriation of Greekness**

The biographies described previously (even in their very summed up form) express two tendencies that may be characterized as two techniques of appropriation. The object of appropriation in my cases is "Greekness" (i.e., the complex of practices and discourses appropriate to certain local communities as well as the Greek language which is both an object and an instrument simultaneously).

In comparing two stories and two techniques of appropriation, it is evident that Irina's technique is expressed in a "complete" or "maximum possible" appropriation of Greekness, while Anna builds a career. In other words, Anna creates something new for herself, conceiving Greekness both as a context and an instrument but not as a desired result of what she has to possess/become. In this sense, her technique may be defined, following Sansi [9], as re-appropriation. Anna creates her own "world" of her Greekness on the basis of nonethnic identity, on the basis of intellectuality together with personal independence and Greek citizenship as main discourses of her identity. It is also important that Irina migrated "from village to village," while Anna migrated "from city to city." This re-confirms my main argument that different techniques of appropriation are due to different pre-emigration experiences. In other words, Irina gained Greek identity; she became a respectful Greek rural woman, guarding local practices and discourses. Anna, appropriating Greek identity, restored that position she lost in Russia, and then by means of re-appropriation moved beyond. However, her move is understood by her as a career development and as an acquisition of full civil rights with a possibility of critical intellectualism. Her contemporary identity is Greek one, but it is based on her previous Russian identity and could be become Israeli or any other identity.18 Such an identity can be considered as global because the possibility of it is provided by resemblance of social fields in different states and a chance of transferal of symbolic capital over borders.

18It does not mean that she rejects dominant discourses and practices or communication and ties with people in Greece. But, she could retain her critical intellectual position. The process of appropriation of Greekness is not a vital task for her because she "already is a Greek woman" and her Greek ethnicity was confirmed by two states—Russia and Greece. Therefore, she had a possibility (or just created it for

**46**

herself) to adopt an independent position.

Alexander Manuylov Pirogov Russian National Research Medical University, Moscow, Russia

\*Address all correspondence to<EMAIL_ADDRESS>
© 2019 The Author(s). Licensee IntechOpen. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/ by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

### **References**

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[11] Morokvasic M. 'Settled in Mobility': Engendering Post-Wall migration in Europe. Feminist Review. 2004;**77**(1): 7-25. DOI: 10.1057/palgrave.fr.9400154

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[14] Lewis CT, Short CA. Latin Dictionary Founded on Andrew's Edition of Freund's Latin Dictionary, Revised, Enlarged, and in Great Part Rewritten. Oxford: At the. Clarendon Press; 1879. xiv. 2019 p

[15] Burrill AM. A New Law Dictionary and Glossary: Containing Full Description of the Principal Terms of the Common and Civil Law, Together with Translations and Explanations of the Various Technical Phrases in Different Languages, Occurring in the Ancient and Modern Reports, and Standard Threaties; Embracing Also the Principal Common and Civil Law Maxims, P. I. Union, N.J.: The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd.; 1998 [1850]. (4). 1099 p

[16] Voutira E. Post-soviet diaspora politics: The case of the soviet Greeks. Journal of Modern Greek Studies. 2006;**24**:379-414

**49**

*The Appropriation of Discourses and Practices: Female Migration from Russia to Greece…*

*DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.81481*

[17] Voglis P. Between negation and self-negation: Political prisoners in Greece, 1945-1950. In: Mazover, M, editor. After the War Was over: Reconstructing the Family, Nation, and State in Greece, 1943-1960. Princeton; Oxford: Princeton University Press,

2000. p. 73-90

2003;(2):339-360

[18] Ulunian A. Polemika po

problemam iazyka sovetskikh grekov v mezhvoennyi period v SSSR [debates over the soviet Greeks' language issues in the USSR in the interwar period]. Etudes balkaniques. 1991;**2**:11-24

[19] Popov A. Becoming Pontic: "Postsocialist" identities, "transnational" geography, and the "native" land of the Caucasian Greeks. Ab Imperio.

[20] Voutira E. The 'Right to Return' and the Meaning of 'Home': A Post-Soviet Greek Diaspora Becoming European? Zürich; Münster: Lit; 2011. (Balkan Border Crossings – Contributions to Balkan Ethnography, Bd. 2). xi. 367 p

*The Appropriation of Discourses and Practices: Female Migration from Russia to Greece… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.81481*

[17] Voglis P. Between negation and self-negation: Political prisoners in Greece, 1945-1950. In: Mazover, M, editor. After the War Was over: Reconstructing the Family, Nation, and State in Greece, 1943-1960. Princeton; Oxford: Princeton University Press, 2000. p. 73-90

[18] Ulunian A. Polemika po problemam iazyka sovetskikh grekov v mezhvoennyi period v SSSR [debates over the soviet Greeks' language issues in the USSR in the interwar period]. Etudes balkaniques. 1991;**2**:11-24

[19] Popov A. Becoming Pontic: "Postsocialist" identities, "transnational" geography, and the "native" land of the Caucasian Greeks. Ab Imperio. 2003;(2):339-360

[20] Voutira E. The 'Right to Return' and the Meaning of 'Home': A Post-Soviet Greek Diaspora Becoming European? Zürich; Münster: Lit; 2011. (Balkan Border Crossings – Contributions to Balkan Ethnography, Bd. 2). xi. 367 p

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*Advances in Discourse Analysis*

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Berghahn Books; 2007. (Remapping Cultural History, Vol. 6). x. 213 p

[11] Morokvasic M. 'Settled in Mobility': Engendering Post-Wall migration in Europe. Feminist Review. 2004;**77**(1): 7-25. DOI: 10.1057/palgrave.fr.9400154

[12] Voutira E. Ethnic Greeks from the former Soviet Union as "privileged return migrants". Espace, Populations, Sociétés. 2004;**3**:533-544. DOI: 10.4000/

[13] Bourdieu P. The forms of capital. In: Richardson JG, editor. Handbook of Theory and Research for the Sociology of Education. New York: Greenwood;

[14] Lewis CT, Short CA. Latin Dictionary Founded on Andrew's Edition of Freund's Latin Dictionary, Revised, Enlarged, and in Great Part Rewritten. Oxford: At the. Clarendon

and Glossary: Containing Full Description of the Principal Terms of the Common and Civil Law, Together with Translations and Explanations of the Various Technical Phrases in Different Languages, Occurring in the Ancient and Modern Reports, and Standard Threaties; Embracing Also the Principal Common and Civil Law Maxims, P. I. Union, N.J.: The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd.; 1998 [1850]. (4). 1099 p

[16] Voutira E. Post-soviet diaspora politics: The case of the soviet Greeks. Journal of Modern Greek Studies.

2006;**24**:379-414

[15] Burrill AM. A New Law Dictionary

[10] Skazko AA. Transformatsiia kontsepta "semya" v kul'ture Rossii (Transformation of the concept of 'family' in Russian culture) [thesis]. Stavropol: Stavropol State University;

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[5] Thomas N. Entangled Objects: Exchange, Material Culture, and Colonialism in the Pacific. Boston: Harvard University Press; 1991. xv.

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[7] Coleman EB. Aboriginal Art, Identity and Appropriation.

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Aldershot; Burlington: Ashgate; 2005. (Anthropology and cultural history in Asia and the Indo-Pacific). xvii. 188 p

[8] Young JO. Cultural appropriation and the arts. Singapore: Wiley-Blackwell, 2010 . (New Directions in

[9] Sansi R. Fetishes and Monuments: Afro-Brazilian Art and Culture in the Twentieth Century.  Introduction**

**Abstract**

From Little Fatherlands to

Imagined Protonation: The

Discourse on Francoprovençal

in the *Journal de Genève* and the

*Gazette de Lausanne* (1826–1998)

Francoprovençal is a Romance language originating in the sixth century and described by linguists in the nineteenth century. There are still many young native speakers in Italy (Aosta Valley), unlike France and Switzerland, where speakers can only be found in the traditionally Catholic cantons of Fribourg and Valais. However, the Protestant cantons of Geneva and Vaud also initiated a discussion about the vanishing language. The press archives illustrate the evolution of language representations, ranging from acceptance of the extinction of this *patois* to the insistence on preservation efforts and, more recently, hope for revitalization. The present analysis is based on texts from the *Journal de Genève* and the *Gazette de Lausanne* containing the keywords "patois" and/or "francoprovençal," from 1826 to 1998. The corpora reflect identity construction based on language at a regional, national or transnational scale. In the nineteenth century, the imagined language community applied to little fatherlands (cantons), to French-speaking Switzerland (Romandy) or to a cross-border space around Geneva (along with Savoy). In the twentieth century, the appearance of the word "francoprovençal" led some people to broaden their interest to the entire FP area, with some manifestations of a "protonational"

construction encompassing Swiss, French and Italian regions.

**Keywords:** francoprovençal, Switzerland, identity, Geneva, Vaud, Savoy,

Francoprovençal (FP) is a distinct Romance language originating around the sixth century from the Romanization of Gaul in Lyon but also, more generally, in the areas of influence of Roman transit axes along the western Alpine Arc—Great and Little St Bernard Pass, Montcenis [1]. FP was historically spoken in eastern central France (especially the north of the Rhône-Alpes region), in present-day French-speaking Switzerland (except the canton of Jura), and in north-east Italy (Aosta Valley and some valleys of Piedmont) (see **Figure 1**). It has often been neglected by Romanists because it was only identified in 1874 [2, 3], even though it

#### **Chapter 4**

## From Little Fatherlands to Imagined Protonation: The Discourse on Francoprovençal in the *Journal de Genève* and the *Gazette de Lausanne* (1826–1998)

*Manuel Meune*

### **Abstract**

Francoprovençal is a Romance language originating in the sixth century and described by linguists in the nineteenth century. There are still many young native speakers in Italy (Aosta Valley), unlike France and Switzerland, where speakers can only be found in the traditionally Catholic cantons of Fribourg and Valais. However, the Protestant cantons of Geneva and Vaud also initiated a discussion about the vanishing language. The press archives illustrate the evolution of language representations, ranging from acceptance of the extinction of this *patois* to the insistence on preservation efforts and, more recently, hope for revitalization. The present analysis is based on texts from the *Journal de Genève* and the *Gazette de Lausanne* containing the keywords "patois" and/or "francoprovençal," from 1826 to 1998. The corpora reflect identity construction based on language at a regional, national or transnational scale. In the nineteenth century, the imagined language community applied to little fatherlands (cantons), to French-speaking Switzerland (Romandy) or to a cross-border space around Geneva (along with Savoy). In the twentieth century, the appearance of the word "francoprovençal" led some people to broaden their interest to the entire FP area, with some manifestations of a "protonational" construction encompassing Swiss, French and Italian regions.

**Keywords:** francoprovençal, Switzerland, identity, Geneva, Vaud, Savoy, Aosta Valley, nation, canton

#### **1. Introduction**

Francoprovençal (FP) is a distinct Romance language originating around the sixth century from the Romanization of Gaul in Lyon but also, more generally, in the areas of influence of Roman transit axes along the western Alpine Arc—Great and Little St Bernard Pass, Montcenis [1]. FP was historically spoken in eastern central France (especially the north of the Rhône-Alpes region), in present-day French-speaking Switzerland (except the canton of Jura), and in north-east Italy (Aosta Valley and some valleys of Piedmont) (see **Figure 1**). It has often been neglected by Romanists because it was only identified in 1874 [2, 3], even though it

**Figure 1.**

*The Francoprovençal area. Main towns and regions (according to a map from the Centre d'études francoprovençales; Saint-Nicolas, Italy).*

had been used for literary purposes as early as the thirteenth century. This endangered language has hardly ever been an administrative language, but it is still used to some extent by a few thousand elderly people and a handful of new speakers in France (Savoie, Bresse, Lyonnais) [4, 5]. It is more prevalent in Italy, where intergenerational transmission still occurs on a relatively large scale. In French-speaking Switzerland, varieties of FP are still spoken in some communities in the Catholic cantons of Fribourg [6] and Valais—where the village of Evolène still has young native speakers [7, 8]. However, the vernacular languages disappeared from the nineteenth century in the Protestant cantons of Neuchâtel, Geneva and Vaud except in a few communities of the Jorat region [9].

The analysis of the discourse on Francoprovençal, a language spoken in three countries with very different social, political and linguistic traditions, makes it possible to measure, in a comparative way, the impact of the various strategies of (not) promoting language diversity. We will focus here on Switzerland, a country generally celebrated for its management of plurilingualism, but which, in the case of FP, does not seem to live up to its reputation. In particular, we will see how the autonomy of the cantons—a driving force of political and social life in Switzerland—has produced various regional patriotic discourses, thus preventing the emergence of a more unitary discourse on this language, whose transcantonal and transnational character is nevertheless beyond doubt. Through online archives (www.letempsarchives.ch), we will analyze the perceptions of FP by observing how newspaper texts illustrate diverse types of regional or (proto)national identity construction, whether it's Vaud, Geneva, (French-speaking) Swiss identity or a transnational one—encompassing a partial identification with Savoy and/or the Aosta Valley.

In Switzerland as elsewhere, the technical glottonym, "francoprovençal," is little used by speakers [7, 9, 10], who prefer the term "patois" (even if this term is often negatively connoted among nonspeakers). Switzerland, officially quadrilingual (German, French, Italian, Romansh), has not preserved FP any better than France,

**53**

*From Little Fatherlands to Imagined Protonation: The Discourse on Francoprovençal…*

representations of an atypical language—Francoprovençal.

rent reference daily in French-speaking Switzerland—*Le Temps*.

specialized term is not yet adopted by the general public [13].

almost always the case in the press corpus studied.

**2. Constitution of the corpora**

keywords "patois" and "francoprovençal"1

which has partly "exported" its unilingual ideology there, as well as the perspective that French is an intrinsically superior language. Even while the cantons banned the ancestral language from schools, intellectuals sometimes simultaneously promoted it along with their "little fatherland" (especially the canton, but also Frenchspeaking Romandy), and academics or cultural associations undertook to collect data and to maintain or (more rarely) revitalize the practice of the language. In the 2000s, translations of comic books aroused the interest of the general public, and FP is timidly gaining visibility in the school system in the form of optional courses. The spread of the word "francoprovençal" at the end of the nineteenth century, although far from replacing "patois", did have an impact on the construction of imagined communities [11], whether large or small, and on the emergence of a possible "protonational" discourse [12] that might replace local or national affiliations by a cross-border sense of belonging. It is these mechanisms that we wish to describe more precisely by analyzing the discourse on FP in the *Journal de Genève* and the *Gazette de Lausanne*. With its multilingual status and its sovereign cantons, which to some extent are like small independent countries, Switzerland, being an atypical nation, appears as a favorable terrain for the study of the evolution of

The *Journal de Genève* was founded in 1826 as a liberal weekly, and the *Gazette de Lausanne*, in the same vein, in 1798 (under the name *Peuple vaudois*). They merged in 1991 and again later with the *Nouveau quotidien* in 1998 to give birth to the cur-

For the *Journal de Genève*, 138 texts (see **Figure 2**) were obtained by using the

designation, it seemed important to analyze, at least for one of the newspapers, the representations associated with the term "patois". Indeed, before the widespread usage of the name "francoprovençal," "patois" was in fact the only term which made observing FP reality possible, and it is therefore necessary to study the occurrences of this original designation in order to better understand the evolution initiated by the new term. The first part of the corpus (GE-1) comprises 96 texts having at least one occurrence of the keyword "patois", published between 1826 (first occurrence) and 1908 (last year before the first occurrence of "francoprovençal" in 1909). Most of the texts, unsigned, are short notices about political or social life, more often culture and literature (conferences, reviews, etc.). The second part (GE-2) comprises 42 texts with at least one occurrence of the keyword "francoprovençal" (and its feminine or plural forms), between 1909 and 1998 (first and last occurrences). Thirty-one of these texts also contain a reference to "patois", but the corpus does not include the texts (too numerous to be taken into account here) that do reference "patois," but *not* "francoprovençal." Most of these texts, generally longer than in the GE-1 corpus, are signed, often by academics, which highlights the fact that the

For the *Gazette de Lausanne*, the corpus (VD, for Vaud) contains 37 texts (see **Figure 3**) with at least one occurrence of the keyword "francoprovençal" (and its declined forms) from 1875 to 1988 (first and last occurrences). Again, these texts may contain references to "patois," but texts with only the word "patois" are not

1 Since the 1960s, academics have used "francoprovençal" without a hyphen (to underscore the autonomous character of the language), but outside university circles, the term is still often hyphenated. This is

. Even if we focus largely on the latter

*DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.81502*

*From Little Fatherlands to Imagined Protonation: The Discourse on Francoprovençal… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.81502*

which has partly "exported" its unilingual ideology there, as well as the perspective that French is an intrinsically superior language. Even while the cantons banned the ancestral language from schools, intellectuals sometimes simultaneously promoted it along with their "little fatherland" (especially the canton, but also Frenchspeaking Romandy), and academics or cultural associations undertook to collect data and to maintain or (more rarely) revitalize the practice of the language. In the 2000s, translations of comic books aroused the interest of the general public, and FP is timidly gaining visibility in the school system in the form of optional courses.

The spread of the word "francoprovençal" at the end of the nineteenth century, although far from replacing "patois", did have an impact on the construction of imagined communities [11], whether large or small, and on the emergence of a possible "protonational" discourse [12] that might replace local or national affiliations by a cross-border sense of belonging. It is these mechanisms that we wish to describe more precisely by analyzing the discourse on FP in the *Journal de Genève* and the *Gazette de Lausanne*. With its multilingual status and its sovereign cantons, which to some extent are like small independent countries, Switzerland, being an atypical nation, appears as a favorable terrain for the study of the evolution of representations of an atypical language—Francoprovençal.

#### **2. Constitution of the corpora**

*Advances in Discourse Analysis*

had been used for literary purposes as early as the thirteenth century. This endangered language has hardly ever been an administrative language, but it is still used to some extent by a few thousand elderly people and a handful of new speakers in France (Savoie, Bresse, Lyonnais) [4, 5]. It is more prevalent in Italy, where intergenerational transmission still occurs on a relatively large scale. In French-speaking Switzerland, varieties of FP are still spoken in some communities in the Catholic cantons of Fribourg [6] and Valais—where the village of Evolène still has young native speakers [7, 8]. However, the vernacular languages disappeared from the nineteenth century in the Protestant cantons of Neuchâtel, Geneva and Vaud—

*The Francoprovençal area. Main towns and regions (according to a map from the Centre d'études*

The analysis of the discourse on Francoprovençal, a language spoken in three countries with very different social, political and linguistic traditions, makes it possible to measure, in a comparative way, the impact of the various strategies of (not) promoting language diversity. We will focus here on Switzerland, a country generally celebrated for its management of plurilingualism, but which, in the case of FP, does not seem to live up to its reputation. In particular, we will see how the autonomy of the cantons—a driving force of political and social life in Switzerland—has produced various regional patriotic discourses, thus preventing the emergence of a more unitary discourse on this language, whose transcantonal and transnational character is nevertheless beyond doubt. Through online archives (www.letempsarchives.ch), we will analyze the perceptions of FP by observing how newspaper texts illustrate diverse types of regional or (proto)national identity construction, whether it's Vaud, Geneva, (French-speaking) Swiss identity or a transnational one—encompassing a partial identification with Savoy and/or the Aosta Valley.

In Switzerland as elsewhere, the technical glottonym, "francoprovençal," is little used by speakers [7, 9, 10], who prefer the term "patois" (even if this term is often negatively connoted among nonspeakers). Switzerland, officially quadrilingual (German, French, Italian, Romansh), has not preserved FP any better than France,

except in a few communities of the Jorat region [9].

**52**

**Figure 1.**

*francoprovençales; Saint-Nicolas, Italy).*

The *Journal de Genève* was founded in 1826 as a liberal weekly, and the *Gazette de Lausanne*, in the same vein, in 1798 (under the name *Peuple vaudois*). They merged in 1991 and again later with the *Nouveau quotidien* in 1998 to give birth to the current reference daily in French-speaking Switzerland—*Le Temps*.

For the *Journal de Genève*, 138 texts (see **Figure 2**) were obtained by using the keywords "patois" and "francoprovençal"1 . Even if we focus largely on the latter designation, it seemed important to analyze, at least for one of the newspapers, the representations associated with the term "patois". Indeed, before the widespread usage of the name "francoprovençal," "patois" was in fact the only term which made observing FP reality possible, and it is therefore necessary to study the occurrences of this original designation in order to better understand the evolution initiated by the new term. The first part of the corpus (GE-1) comprises 96 texts having at least one occurrence of the keyword "patois", published between 1826 (first occurrence) and 1908 (last year before the first occurrence of "francoprovençal" in 1909). Most of the texts, unsigned, are short notices about political or social life, more often culture and literature (conferences, reviews, etc.). The second part (GE-2) comprises 42 texts with at least one occurrence of the keyword "francoprovençal" (and its feminine or plural forms), between 1909 and 1998 (first and last occurrences). Thirty-one of these texts also contain a reference to "patois", but the corpus does not include the texts (too numerous to be taken into account here) that do reference "patois," but *not* "francoprovençal." Most of these texts, generally longer than in the GE-1 corpus, are signed, often by academics, which highlights the fact that the specialized term is not yet adopted by the general public [13].

For the *Gazette de Lausanne*, the corpus (VD, for Vaud) contains 37 texts (see **Figure 3**) with at least one occurrence of the keyword "francoprovençal" (and its declined forms) from 1875 to 1988 (first and last occurrences). Again, these texts may contain references to "patois," but texts with only the word "patois" are not

1 Since the 1960s, academics have used "francoprovençal" without a hyphen (to underscore the autonomous character of the language), but outside university circles, the term is still often hyphenated. This is almost always the case in the press corpus studied.

**Figure 2.**

*Journal de Genève = Number of texts with at least 1 occurrence of "patois" (***o***) [GE-1, 1826–1908] and "francoprovençal" ( ) [GE-2, 1908–1998].*

**Figure 3.**

*Gazette de Lausanne = Number of texts with at least 1 occurrence of "francoprovençal" ( ) [VD, 1875–1998].*

taken into account. When these texts do have signed authors, they are sometimes *Gazette* journalists but more often specialists (writers, linguists or other academics). As for the GE-1 corpus, the texts may be short dispatches or communiqués. However, the more academic quality of the word "francoprovençal" is reflected in the fact that the contributions of the GE-2 corpus are more often background articles relating to literature and culture pages [14].

For both newspapers, we will focus particularly on certain key texts that illustrate the range of linguistic representations present2 . It should be noted that there are no editorial articles specifically about FP in either corpus—the subject at hand probably never having been perceived as a worthy enough topic.

#### **3.** *Patois* **in the GE-1 corpus (1826–1909)**

#### **3.1 The various geographical origins of the multiple** *patois*

The word "patois" has no precise meaning unless accompanied by an adjective. The long period during which the term "francoprovençal" is absent from the *Journal de Genève* allows us to observe to which geographic and/or linguistic realities the term "patois" applies. It certainly regularly designates the FP dialects of Romandy (officially French-speaking Swiss territories), but various occurrences also apply to England, Germany, Denmark, Wallonia, Greece, etc. "Patois" sometimes simply refers to a rural language, but it awakens reflections on the disparity between linguistic and national borders or on the compatibility between dialectal diversity and cultural unity, as well as on the particular way Switzerland as a "nation of will" makes multilingualism go hand in hand with a uninational framework.

The word "patois" occurs much more frequently in regard to France: Limousin, Franche-Comté, Berri, but especially Provence—the region outside the FP area that is the most represented in the corpus. Before the creation of the FP concept in

**55**

border discourse on the *patois*.

**3.3 Savoy and Geneva: one and the same we-feeling**

*From Little Fatherlands to Imagined Protonation: The Discourse on Francoprovençal…*

1874, France remained very binary, divided between the languages of *oïl* and *oc*. The strong visibility of Provence and Provençal in the second half of the nineteenth century, linked to the popularity of Frédéric Mistral's *Félibrige* movement promoting the revival of Occitan, may have slowed down the awareness of a threefold division of the Gallo-Romance linguistic area [6]. Still, the activities of the *Félibrige*, closely followed by the *Journal de Genève*, indirectly encouraged engaging in sociolinguistic reflections on Switzerland. The newspaper oscillates between support for the rescue of the Provençal language and denunciation of its past-oriented character. Thus, in an article on Mistral, one author regrets that the "language of the troubadours" is dead since the school system "chases it away from the young heads"; he is, however, pleased that it left "these charming local *patois* which would be called languages if the conquerors from the North had allowed it", and he notes a certain kinship of spirit between Provence and Rhodanian Switzerland, geographically and ideologically turned toward the south of France (December 6, 1883). Another author, far less benevolent, ridicules the desire to raise the status of Provençal and is pleased that the Romands, faced with the erosion of their ancestral language, reject south-

**3.2 The** *patois* **of Romandy: between patriotic logic and conservatory work**

With regard to Switzerland, the reflections on "patois", which most often concern Romandy (52 articles while only 4 about German-speaking Switzerland), illustrate Romand's quest for symbolic equality between German- and French-speaking Swiss. The celebration of local languages serves to show the attachment to a mythified Switzerland. Thus, the publication of the *Glossaire des patois de la Suisse romande* is presented as the counterpart of the already existing *Schweizerisches Idiotikon* (September 6, 1873, April 28, 1900) and also as constituting a "treasure of our national history" (February 23, 1903). The collection of songs in *patois romand* is seen as an "eminently patriotic work" (December 22, 1907) that must be pursued with as much enthusiasm as the German Swiss do. Patriotism here is both Swiss and Romand, and the corpus displays the faith in a Swiss nation founded on respect for "national languages"—of which *patois romand* is an implicit part. Since plurilingualism is a central element of identity construction in Switzerland (unlike the officially unilingual nations that surround it), the national dynamic is based both on a pluricultural and plurilingual "Swiss idea" and on allegiance to the respective ancestral languages. Pride for the *patois* of French-speaking Switzerland is part of the national narrative, which requires each linguistic community to participate in "Swissness" by adding its own personality to the mix. The *Ranz des vaches* dear to Rousseau, although stemming from Gruyères (Fribourg), is therefore considered as applying to the whole of Romandy—as "our true national song" (February 17, 1892) and as a "unique national poem" (June 21, 1904)—without compromising the Swiss national idea. While clearly no one is thinking of making *patois romand* official as Switzerland's fifth language, it is symbolically becoming a co-national language. The imagined community [11] of Romandy is integrated into the pan-Swiss nation-building process, according to a paradigm that values both the languages of Switzerland and the native language of each region. This attachment to both Romand (French- or *patois*-speaking) and Swiss (multilingual) communities does not exclude a cross-

The French region most mentioned with regard to "patois" is Savoy (13 articles),

because of the kinship between Savoyard and Genevan dialects. In various texts

*DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.81502*

ern linguistic activism (September 5, 1896).

2 The quotes are in English and all translations are mine—to consult the original in French, see [12] (*Journal de Genève*) and [13] (*Gazette de Lausanne*).

*From Little Fatherlands to Imagined Protonation: The Discourse on Francoprovençal… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.81502*

1874, France remained very binary, divided between the languages of *oïl* and *oc*. The strong visibility of Provence and Provençal in the second half of the nineteenth century, linked to the popularity of Frédéric Mistral's *Félibrige* movement promoting the revival of Occitan, may have slowed down the awareness of a threefold division of the Gallo-Romance linguistic area [6]. Still, the activities of the *Félibrige*, closely followed by the *Journal de Genève*, indirectly encouraged engaging in sociolinguistic reflections on Switzerland. The newspaper oscillates between support for the rescue of the Provençal language and denunciation of its past-oriented character. Thus, in an article on Mistral, one author regrets that the "language of the troubadours" is dead since the school system "chases it away from the young heads"; he is, however, pleased that it left "these charming local *patois* which would be called languages if the conquerors from the North had allowed it", and he notes a certain kinship of spirit between Provence and Rhodanian Switzerland, geographically and ideologically turned toward the south of France (December 6, 1883). Another author, far less benevolent, ridicules the desire to raise the status of Provençal and is pleased that the Romands, faced with the erosion of their ancestral language, reject southern linguistic activism (September 5, 1896).

#### **3.2 The** *patois* **of Romandy: between patriotic logic and conservatory work**

With regard to Switzerland, the reflections on "patois", which most often concern Romandy (52 articles while only 4 about German-speaking Switzerland), illustrate Romand's quest for symbolic equality between German- and French-speaking Swiss. The celebration of local languages serves to show the attachment to a mythified Switzerland. Thus, the publication of the *Glossaire des patois de la Suisse romande* is presented as the counterpart of the already existing *Schweizerisches Idiotikon* (September 6, 1873, April 28, 1900) and also as constituting a "treasure of our national history" (February 23, 1903). The collection of songs in *patois romand* is seen as an "eminently patriotic work" (December 22, 1907) that must be pursued with as much enthusiasm as the German Swiss do. Patriotism here is both Swiss and Romand, and the corpus displays the faith in a Swiss nation founded on respect for "national languages"—of which *patois romand* is an implicit part. Since plurilingualism is a central element of identity construction in Switzerland (unlike the officially unilingual nations that surround it), the national dynamic is based both on a pluricultural and plurilingual "Swiss idea" and on allegiance to the respective ancestral languages. Pride for the *patois* of French-speaking Switzerland is part of the national narrative, which requires each linguistic community to participate in "Swissness" by adding its own personality to the mix. The *Ranz des vaches* dear to Rousseau, although stemming from Gruyères (Fribourg), is therefore considered as applying to the whole of Romandy—as "our true national song" (February 17, 1892) and as a "unique national poem" (June 21, 1904)—without compromising the Swiss national idea. While clearly no one is thinking of making *patois romand* official as Switzerland's fifth language, it is symbolically becoming a co-national language. The imagined community [11] of Romandy is integrated into the pan-Swiss nation-building process, according to a paradigm that values both the languages of Switzerland and the native language of each region. This attachment to both Romand (French- or *patois*-speaking) and Swiss (multilingual) communities does not exclude a crossborder discourse on the *patois*.

#### **3.3 Savoy and Geneva: one and the same we-feeling**

The French region most mentioned with regard to "patois" is Savoy (13 articles), because of the kinship between Savoyard and Genevan dialects. In various texts

*Advances in Discourse Analysis*

*"francoprovençal" ( ) [GE-2, 1908–1998].*

literature and culture pages [14].

**Figure 3.**

**Figure 2.**

trate the range of linguistic representations present2

**3.** *Patois* **in the GE-1 corpus (1826–1909)**

(*Journal de Genève*) and [13] (*Gazette de Lausanne*).

probably never having been perceived as a worthy enough topic.

**3.1 The various geographical origins of the multiple** *patois*

makes multilingualism go hand in hand with a uninational framework.

taken into account. When these texts do have signed authors, they are sometimes *Gazette* journalists but more often specialists (writers, linguists or other academics). As for the GE-1 corpus, the texts may be short dispatches or communiqués. However, the more academic quality of the word "francoprovençal" is reflected in the fact that the contributions of the GE-2 corpus are more often background articles relating to

*Gazette de Lausanne = Number of texts with at least 1 occurrence of "francoprovençal" ( ) [VD, 1875–1998].*

*Journal de Genève = Number of texts with at least 1 occurrence of "patois" (***o***) [GE-1, 1826–1908] and*

For both newspapers, we will focus particularly on certain key texts that illus-

are no editorial articles specifically about FP in either corpus—the subject at hand

The word "patois" has no precise meaning unless accompanied by an adjective. The long period during which the term "francoprovençal" is absent from the *Journal de Genève* allows us to observe to which geographic and/or linguistic realities the term "patois" applies. It certainly regularly designates the FP dialects of Romandy (officially French-speaking Swiss territories), but various occurrences also apply to England, Germany, Denmark, Wallonia, Greece, etc. "Patois" sometimes simply refers to a rural language, but it awakens reflections on the disparity between linguistic and national borders or on the compatibility between dialectal diversity and cultural unity, as well as on the particular way Switzerland as a "nation of will"

The word "patois" occurs much more frequently in regard to France: Limousin, Franche-Comté, Berri, but especially Provence—the region outside the FP area that is the most represented in the corpus. Before the creation of the FP concept in

2 The quotes are in English and all translations are mine—to consult the original in French, see [12]

. It should be noted that there

**54**

evoking dictionaries or monographs, despite the conflicting political past between Geneva and Savoy, the Geneva "we-feeling" is confused with the Savoyard one. Although describing the rout of the Savoyard Catholics against the Genevan Calvinists, the *Cé qué l'ainô*, the "Escalade Song" that became the Geneva anthem, is presented as a common work written in "Savoyard *patois*" (August 17, 1903). The latter is seen as "the *patois* of our fathers" which feeds an "Allobrogian melancholy" and a belonging to "both a lacustrian race and an Alpine race" (August 6, 1891). The Genevans, who abandoned the local language earlier than the Savoyards, are invited to draw inspiration from the conservation work undertaken in Savoy (April 27, 1903). The *Conspiration de Compesières* (1695), a poem which "illustrates the comic verve of the ancient Genevans" (February 6, 1870), is also presented as a text in "Savoyard *patois*", while another author regrets that the younger generation avoids "popular phrases in fear of betraying its nationality" (September 16, 1865)—in this context of cross-border patriotism, it is not known whether the nationality in question is the Genevan or the Savoyard one.

#### **3.4 Discrimination, modernization and disappearance**

Sometimes, the reference to "patois" in the *Journal de Genève* only concerns Geneva (historical documents, literary or linguistic questions), without any link to Savoy. However, since Geneva's dialect was already moribund from the nineteenth century onwards, the interest of the newspaper is sometimes directed toward cantons where the dialect has been better maintained: Valais (4 texts), but especially Vaud (12) and Fribourg (10), whose publications (partly) in *patois* are regularly mentioned. In addition to the interest in preserving *patois*, there are a few remarks on the linguistic policy that today would be described as "glottophagic" [15] or "glottophobic" [16], which incited the canton of Fribourg to ban *patois* at school [17]. One article reports the "very lively" discussion on "measures to introduce the use of French into families" on the grounds that the use of *patois* causes the "inferiority of the Fribourg schools"—whereas some teachers refuse that *patois* be despised (July 17, 1885).

Two articles tackle the question of the disappearance of the many local *patois* often perceived as inevitable because of the internalized stigmatization. Although they are "the soul of the people", one contributor says the *patois* are doomed to "decomposition", a phenomenon accelerated by the "infiltration of the French language" and by the "sarcasms" of the generations for which it is a thing of the past; a unification of the dialects as in the Provençal/Occitan model is also excluded (August 8, 1900). Another author concludes that "our mountain people" are now interested in Manchuria and that they have "a world-oriented soul" (April 22, 1905). In addition, at the turn of the twentieth century, the representations shown in the *Journal de Genève* do not seem to consider the existence of a language corresponding to the present-day perception of FP.

#### **4. Francoprovençal in the GE-2 corpus (1909–1995)**

#### **4.1 The Aosta Valley: the new heart of the language region**

Let us now turn to the 42 articles which, from 1909, include a reference to "francoprovençal," a term proposed by the Italian linguist Graziadio Isaia Ascoli in 1874 [2]. This new concept, which has taken time to spread, changed representations by extending the reflection to regions that were often not associated with Romand *patois*. The Aosta Valley, little represented in the GE-1 corpus (1 article), is

**57**

*From Little Fatherlands to Imagined Protonation: The Discourse on Francoprovençal…*

which once sprinkled the conversations of their grandfathers."

much more present in the GE-2 corpus (12 texts). The first article (August 12, 1909) describes the threat of the Italian government banning the French language, which had been protected since the annexation of the region to Italy in 1860. The author reminds the readers that the Valdostans, although good Italian patriots, had French as their written language and FP as their oral language. He adds that some of them envy Switzerland, where "the most disparate languages meet" while the "tiny nationalities that they represent" are respected. The people of Romandy are invited to encourage the Valdostans to "defend their native language," to keep alive the transnational "community of origin" that exists beyond the vagaries of history and to remember the "common racial affiliation" that is attested by the FP idiom. However, the Aosta Valley also appears to be a linguistic conservatory, a place where a supposedly pure FP is spoken and where the Swiss can "harvest the archaisms

In the 1960s and 1970s, with the effervescence of minority groups in Europe, the emergence of a "Valdostan question" within the French-speaking world went hand in hand with a stronger politicization of the "FP question." One article (October 17, 1968) thus mentions the long coexistence of French, the administrative language in the Aosta Valley, with FP, the oral language that was also a language of literature. The Abbot Cerlogne is described as a "Valdostan *félibre*"—this reference to the Occitan/Provençal area obviously aims to bring dignity and prestige to the FP language. Even after decades of Italianization, if the French language is presented as endangered in the valley, the Valdostans are thought unlikely to lose "their very own language"—which might, in turn, reinforce the position of French

Furthermore, the valley contributed to the genesis of the glottonym "arpitan" some present-day FP defenders hope this term will gradually replace the hybrid word "francoprovençal." An article from 1975 quotes a passage written by a Valdostan in "harpetan" (the "h" stems from an alleged Bascoid etymology, see [18]), which is actually the translation of a work by Mao Zedong, and concludes: "At first, one is surprised. But on reflection, this may not be the strangest offshoot of an old marriage, that of nationalism and internationalism!" (December 30, 1975). Here we observe the emergence of a "protonationalism" [12] which, depending on the period, has taken hold in some parts of the FP area, or indeed in all of it, for example, when protonationalism resurfaced in the 2000s in the form of the dream of a cultural entity (if not a political one) named "Arpitania" and coinciding with

The protonational logic was already obvious in 1937 with regard to Savoy, in one of the 11 texts where the reference to FP is linked to this region (September 2, 1937). The article goes beyond historical-linguistic considerations and has a more political content. The author, taking some liberties with history and geography, evokes a "second kingdom of Burgundy" (eleventh century) overlapping "exactly the area of distribution of the Francoprovençal dialect." Using the more prestigious term "dialect," he stresses that "our *patois* comprise only one branch of this great dialect spoken by 2 or 3 million inhabitants." The transnational dimension finally allows

It is the great Savoy, the Burgundy of the year one thousand, which in reality claims us as its children and as the brothers of the Bressans, the Dauphinois and the Lyonnais, united like us within France, no less than the Genevans, Vaudois, Fribourgeois and Valaisans, as well as the Valdostans separated from us by the vicis-

*DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.81502*

(February 12, 1977).

the borders of the FP domain (see [18]).

**4.2 From mythified Burgundy to reunified Savoy**

him to build a new (mythical) Savoyard national unity:

situdes of politics and history (September 2, 1937).

#### *From Little Fatherlands to Imagined Protonation: The Discourse on Francoprovençal… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.81502*

much more present in the GE-2 corpus (12 texts). The first article (August 12, 1909) describes the threat of the Italian government banning the French language, which had been protected since the annexation of the region to Italy in 1860. The author reminds the readers that the Valdostans, although good Italian patriots, had French as their written language and FP as their oral language. He adds that some of them envy Switzerland, where "the most disparate languages meet" while the "tiny nationalities that they represent" are respected. The people of Romandy are invited to encourage the Valdostans to "defend their native language," to keep alive the transnational "community of origin" that exists beyond the vagaries of history and to remember the "common racial affiliation" that is attested by the FP idiom. However, the Aosta Valley also appears to be a linguistic conservatory, a place where a supposedly pure FP is spoken and where the Swiss can "harvest the archaisms which once sprinkled the conversations of their grandfathers."

In the 1960s and 1970s, with the effervescence of minority groups in Europe, the emergence of a "Valdostan question" within the French-speaking world went hand in hand with a stronger politicization of the "FP question." One article (October 17, 1968) thus mentions the long coexistence of French, the administrative language in the Aosta Valley, with FP, the oral language that was also a language of literature. The Abbot Cerlogne is described as a "Valdostan *félibre*"—this reference to the Occitan/Provençal area obviously aims to bring dignity and prestige to the FP language. Even after decades of Italianization, if the French language is presented as endangered in the valley, the Valdostans are thought unlikely to lose "their very own language"—which might, in turn, reinforce the position of French (February 12, 1977).

Furthermore, the valley contributed to the genesis of the glottonym "arpitan" some present-day FP defenders hope this term will gradually replace the hybrid word "francoprovençal." An article from 1975 quotes a passage written by a Valdostan in "harpetan" (the "h" stems from an alleged Bascoid etymology, see [18]), which is actually the translation of a work by Mao Zedong, and concludes: "At first, one is surprised. But on reflection, this may not be the strangest offshoot of an old marriage, that of nationalism and internationalism!" (December 30, 1975). Here we observe the emergence of a "protonationalism" [12] which, depending on the period, has taken hold in some parts of the FP area, or indeed in all of it, for example, when protonationalism resurfaced in the 2000s in the form of the dream of a cultural entity (if not a political one) named "Arpitania" and coinciding with the borders of the FP domain (see [18]).

#### **4.2 From mythified Burgundy to reunified Savoy**

The protonational logic was already obvious in 1937 with regard to Savoy, in one of the 11 texts where the reference to FP is linked to this region (September 2, 1937). The article goes beyond historical-linguistic considerations and has a more political content. The author, taking some liberties with history and geography, evokes a "second kingdom of Burgundy" (eleventh century) overlapping "exactly the area of distribution of the Francoprovençal dialect." Using the more prestigious term "dialect," he stresses that "our *patois* comprise only one branch of this great dialect spoken by 2 or 3 million inhabitants." The transnational dimension finally allows him to build a new (mythical) Savoyard national unity:

It is the great Savoy, the Burgundy of the year one thousand, which in reality claims us as its children and as the brothers of the Bressans, the Dauphinois and the Lyonnais, united like us within France, no less than the Genevans, Vaudois, Fribourgeois and Valaisans, as well as the Valdostans separated from us by the vicissitudes of politics and history (September 2, 1937).

*Advances in Discourse Analysis*

tion is the Genevan or the Savoyard one.

despised (July 17, 1885).

sponding to the present-day perception of FP.

**4. Francoprovençal in the GE-2 corpus (1909–1995)**

**4.1 The Aosta Valley: the new heart of the language region**

Let us now turn to the 42 articles which, from 1909, include a reference to "francoprovençal," a term proposed by the Italian linguist Graziadio Isaia Ascoli in 1874 [2]. This new concept, which has taken time to spread, changed representations by extending the reflection to regions that were often not associated with Romand *patois*. The Aosta Valley, little represented in the GE-1 corpus (1 article), is

**3.4 Discrimination, modernization and disappearance**

evoking dictionaries or monographs, despite the conflicting political past between Geneva and Savoy, the Geneva "we-feeling" is confused with the Savoyard one. Although describing the rout of the Savoyard Catholics against the Genevan Calvinists, the *Cé qué l'ainô*, the "Escalade Song" that became the Geneva anthem, is presented as a common work written in "Savoyard *patois*" (August 17, 1903). The latter is seen as "the *patois* of our fathers" which feeds an "Allobrogian melancholy" and a belonging to "both a lacustrian race and an Alpine race" (August 6, 1891). The Genevans, who abandoned the local language earlier than the Savoyards, are invited to draw inspiration from the conservation work undertaken in Savoy (April 27, 1903). The *Conspiration de Compesières* (1695), a poem which "illustrates the comic verve of the ancient Genevans" (February 6, 1870), is also presented as a text in "Savoyard *patois*", while another author regrets that the younger generation avoids "popular phrases in fear of betraying its nationality" (September 16, 1865)—in this context of cross-border patriotism, it is not known whether the nationality in ques-

Sometimes, the reference to "patois" in the *Journal de Genève* only concerns Geneva (historical documents, literary or linguistic questions), without any link to Savoy. However, since Geneva's dialect was already moribund from the nineteenth century onwards, the interest of the newspaper is sometimes directed toward cantons where the dialect has been better maintained: Valais (4 texts), but especially Vaud (12) and Fribourg (10), whose publications (partly) in *patois* are regularly mentioned. In addition to the interest in preserving *patois*, there are a few remarks on the linguistic policy that today would be described as "glottophagic" [15] or "glottophobic" [16], which incited the canton of Fribourg to ban *patois* at school [17]. One article reports the "very lively" discussion on "measures to introduce the use of French into families" on the grounds that the use of *patois* causes the "inferiority of the Fribourg schools"—whereas some teachers refuse that *patois* be

Two articles tackle the question of the disappearance of the many local *patois* often perceived as inevitable because of the internalized stigmatization. Although they are "the soul of the people", one contributor says the *patois* are doomed to "decomposition", a phenomenon accelerated by the "infiltration of the French language" and by the "sarcasms" of the generations for which it is a thing of the past; a unification of the dialects as in the Provençal/Occitan model is also excluded (August 8, 1900). Another author concludes that "our mountain people" are now interested in Manchuria and that they have "a world-oriented soul" (April 22, 1905). In addition, at the turn of the twentieth century, the representations shown in the *Journal de Genève* do not seem to consider the existence of a language corre-

**56**

After the reference to the glottonym ("francoprovençal"), the ethnonym ("Franco-Provençaux") that even today is rarely used consolidates the idea of a historical entity that is a transitional place within the Romance continuum, but with a distinct character: "[Our dialect] places us as a link between Provençal and *langue d'oïl*, we the Franco-Provençaux come from the kingdom of Rodolphe […], the cradle of our region". This mythification of the past aims to build a common identity in the FP domain, which, after first being transnational, then becomes "proto-national"—by creating the possibility of a national(istic) discourse. It is also based on the narratives surrounding historical figures such as "our great Saint Francis de Sales" or the "chevalier Bayard" (the "knight without fear and beyond reproach"), whose Savoyard dialect was supposedly understood throughout the FP area. Finally, the possible linguistic unification or standardization is evoked through the recurrent reference to Mistral's *Félibrige*, whose method could be used to "reconstitute a true literary language."

#### **4.3 The francoprovençalization of linguistic awareness in Geneva**

Geneva is mentioned 11 times in the GE-2 corpus, but one notes that in 1987, when mentioning the international FP festival held in Thonon (Savoy), the *Journal de Genève* no longer alludes to the kinship between Genevan and Savoyard speakers, as was often the case in the GE-1 corpus. Savoy seems to have somehow faded from consciousness, now supplanted by the awareness of a larger FP entity—which itself no longer corresponds to the mythified "great Savoy" of 1937. The tone becomes more informative and less aimed at identity construction: "the Franco-Provençal *patois*, also the language of the transalpine roads, was spoken until recently by the Savoyards, the Bressans, some Dauphinois and Lyonnais, the inhabitants of Piedmont and in a part of Switzerland" (September 16, 1987).

These changes in linguistic awareness can also be noticed in the discourse of Geneva academics—relayed by the press—who stress the links between Geneva and the whole FP area. As early as the 1920s, one clear sign of the evolution of language representations in Geneva was a key article on a thesis devoted to FP dialects among Geneva Catholic communities (September 24, 1928). The author, Albert Sechehaye, welcomes the fact that dialectological studies are no longer "a matter of parochialism" and embrace "vast spaces" rather than encouraging a literature in *patois* that is more of a "pastime." However, the author displays his sense of belonging to both a remote FP entity as well as a more tightly knit Geneva collectivity, by being pleased that Geneva's language is now integrated into a larger language area, giving it "a dignity that had been lost because we so readily allowed it". Also a Genevan patriot, he deplores the fact that Geneva, "so proud of its past," had forgotten "its particular language". The *Journal de Genève* does, however, host some opposing points of view, such as that of a public education official in the canton, who rejects any validation of FP and welcomes its disappearance for the sake of Geneva's belonging to the prestigious French-speaking literary community (July 4, 1934).

#### **4.4 Subsequent interest for a possible revitalization of FP in Romandy**

In the GE-2 corpus, cantons other than Geneva are also often mentioned (Fribourg, 10 texts; Valais, 6; Vaud, 6), and they make it possible to tackle the question of a possible revitalization of FP. In the 1970s, the *Journal de Genève* notes that Vaud is a canton where few speakers relearn the "old Latin language" (March 18, 1978)—since there are hardly any native speakers left. And on a performative mode—aimed at creating the very reality that one calls for by using certain terms—one article evokes the "growing interest" for the language, the "rebirth"

**59**

*From Little Fatherlands to Imagined Protonation: The Discourse on Francoprovençal…*

language of origin, has Romandy not lost contact with its own identity?"

differ from the ones found in its Genevan counterpart.

**5. Francoprovençal in the VD corpus (1875–1998)**

Let's now turn to the *Gazette de Lausanne*, to observe to which extent Vaud's leading daily newspaper displays representations of a Francoprovençal language that

**5.1 From the discreet appearance of FP to the persistent attraction of Provençal**

Unlike the *Journal de Genève*, the *Gazette de Lausanne* almost immediately acknowledged the existence of the new term, "francoprovençal." The first trace of this nomenclature appears in an article about a conference on Romance languages in Montpellier (October 4, 1875). The text mentions Ascoli's *Franco-Provenzali Schizzi* (1874) [2], which traditionally marks the birth of FP as an autonomous Romance language—or rather as a "linguistic type" with "its own historical independence", as Ascoli will also state. The ambiguity attached to the very concept of "francoprovençal" (autonomous language vs. "mix") certainly persisted in the following decades (see below), but this article shows that Ascoli himself, who had just revolutionized the traditional bipartition of the Gallo-Romance space, hesitated to "officialize" a third entity; the telegram he sent to the congress attendees only proclaimed: "Viva la Francia d'oc, viva la Francia d'oïl!"; the *Gazette* still focused largely on Provençal. The second occurrence of this precise glottonym can be found in a letter to the editor (July 22, 1895) from the philologist Jean Bonnard, in which he explains that Vaud's dialects are "part of the Franco-Provençal area, which equates to saying that Vaudois and Provençal have several common characteristics." He thus insists less on French than on Provençal, which, due to the enthusiasm for the *Félibrige*, indirectly confers prestige to Romandy's FP dialects. The aura of France's southern language persists into the twentieth century: Edmond Jaloux, a member of the Académie française who is originally from Marseilles and also lived in Switzerland, establishes a close link between Provençal and the FP language, which almost seems to be encompassed in the Occitan culture (June 9, 1945). After naming various Occitan

of "the authentic son of Latin, but the neglected brother of French", stressing that school authorities already encourage introductory classes to FP dialects, although

A few longer articles discuss the survival of FP from a sociolinguistic perspective, two of which are particularly in-depth. The first (April 2, 1956), written by the linguist Léopold Gautier, describes the long-lasting French-*patois* colingualism, the desire for social ascension linked to the adoption of French, the way *patois* speakers' associations reject the idea that saving FP is a lost cause, but also the survival of remnants of FP after its disappearance—in the form of regional French. The second (September 14, 1991) calls for a revitalization of Romandy's original language while criticizing Swiss language policy. It states that Romands "have forgotten the dialect spoken by [their] ancestors" and that it is unfortunate that it takes a French historian (Occitan specialist René Merle) to "invite [them] to reconsider [their] linguistic past" and to remind them that they "did not speak this 'French' of which they are so proud," but the "Franco-Provençal" language, "contemptuously called 'patois,'" although used as a "literary language"—for example, in the canton of Fribourg. Merle mentions the "regrettable self-censorship" that prevented many from going beyond "collector's nostalgia" and argues that Switzerland, "as an independent state, had resources that other regions […] did not have to develop the writing of this idiom." The *Journal de Genève* also then challenges the myth of a Switzerland that protects small languages (Romansh being its icon) and concludes: "In its frantic desire to stick to an external model, by denying its

*DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.81502*

not on a large scale (March 27, 1979).

*From Little Fatherlands to Imagined Protonation: The Discourse on Francoprovençal… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.81502*

of "the authentic son of Latin, but the neglected brother of French", stressing that school authorities already encourage introductory classes to FP dialects, although not on a large scale (March 27, 1979).

A few longer articles discuss the survival of FP from a sociolinguistic perspective, two of which are particularly in-depth. The first (April 2, 1956), written by the linguist Léopold Gautier, describes the long-lasting French-*patois* colingualism, the desire for social ascension linked to the adoption of French, the way *patois* speakers' associations reject the idea that saving FP is a lost cause, but also the survival of remnants of FP after its disappearance—in the form of regional French. The second (September 14, 1991) calls for a revitalization of Romandy's original language while criticizing Swiss language policy. It states that Romands "have forgotten the dialect spoken by [their] ancestors" and that it is unfortunate that it takes a French historian (Occitan specialist René Merle) to "invite [them] to reconsider [their] linguistic past" and to remind them that they "did not speak this 'French' of which they are so proud," but the "Franco-Provençal" language, "contemptuously called 'patois,'" although used as a "literary language"—for example, in the canton of Fribourg. Merle mentions the "regrettable self-censorship" that prevented many from going beyond "collector's nostalgia" and argues that Switzerland, "as an independent state, had resources that other regions […] did not have to develop the writing of this idiom." The *Journal de Genève* also then challenges the myth of a Switzerland that protects small languages (Romansh being its icon) and concludes: "In its frantic desire to stick to an external model, by denying its language of origin, has Romandy not lost contact with its own identity?"

Let's now turn to the *Gazette de Lausanne*, to observe to which extent Vaud's leading daily newspaper displays representations of a Francoprovençal language that differ from the ones found in its Genevan counterpart.

#### **5. Francoprovençal in the VD corpus (1875–1998)**

#### **5.1 From the discreet appearance of FP to the persistent attraction of Provençal**

Unlike the *Journal de Genève*, the *Gazette de Lausanne* almost immediately acknowledged the existence of the new term, "francoprovençal." The first trace of this nomenclature appears in an article about a conference on Romance languages in Montpellier (October 4, 1875). The text mentions Ascoli's *Franco-Provenzali Schizzi* (1874) [2], which traditionally marks the birth of FP as an autonomous Romance language—or rather as a "linguistic type" with "its own historical independence", as Ascoli will also state. The ambiguity attached to the very concept of "francoprovençal" (autonomous language vs. "mix") certainly persisted in the following decades (see below), but this article shows that Ascoli himself, who had just revolutionized the traditional bipartition of the Gallo-Romance space, hesitated to "officialize" a third entity; the telegram he sent to the congress attendees only proclaimed: "Viva la Francia d'oc, viva la Francia d'oïl!"; the *Gazette* still focused largely on Provençal.

The second occurrence of this precise glottonym can be found in a letter to the editor (July 22, 1895) from the philologist Jean Bonnard, in which he explains that Vaud's dialects are "part of the Franco-Provençal area, which equates to saying that Vaudois and Provençal have several common characteristics." He thus insists less on French than on Provençal, which, due to the enthusiasm for the *Félibrige*, indirectly confers prestige to Romandy's FP dialects. The aura of France's southern language persists into the twentieth century: Edmond Jaloux, a member of the Académie française who is originally from Marseilles and also lived in Switzerland, establishes a close link between Provençal and the FP language, which almost seems to be encompassed in the Occitan culture (June 9, 1945). After naming various Occitan

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to "reconstitute a true literary language."

After the reference to the glottonym ("francoprovençal"), the ethnonym ("Franco-Provençaux") that even today is rarely used consolidates the idea of a historical entity that is a transitional place within the Romance continuum, but with a distinct character: "[Our dialect] places us as a link between Provençal and *langue d'oïl*, we the Franco-Provençaux come from the kingdom of Rodolphe […], the cradle of our region". This mythification of the past aims to build a common identity

"proto-national"—by creating the possibility of a national(istic) discourse. It is also based on the narratives surrounding historical figures such as "our great Saint Francis de Sales" or the "chevalier Bayard" (the "knight without fear and beyond reproach"), whose Savoyard dialect was supposedly understood throughout the FP area. Finally, the possible linguistic unification or standardization is evoked through the recurrent reference to Mistral's *Félibrige*, whose method could be used

Geneva is mentioned 11 times in the GE-2 corpus, but one notes that in 1987, when mentioning the international FP festival held in Thonon (Savoy), the *Journal de Genève* no longer alludes to the kinship between Genevan and Savoyard speakers, as was often the case in the GE-1 corpus. Savoy seems to have somehow faded from consciousness, now supplanted by the awareness of a larger FP entity—which itself no longer corresponds to the mythified "great Savoy" of 1937. The tone becomes more informative and less aimed at identity construction: "the Franco-Provençal *patois*, also the language of the transalpine roads, was spoken until recently by the Savoyards, the Bressans, some Dauphinois and Lyonnais, the inhabitants of

These changes in linguistic awareness can also be noticed in the discourse of Geneva academics—relayed by the press—who stress the links between Geneva and the whole FP area. As early as the 1920s, one clear sign of the evolution of language representations in Geneva was a key article on a thesis devoted to FP dialects among Geneva Catholic communities (September 24, 1928). The author, Albert Sechehaye, welcomes the fact that dialectological studies are no longer "a matter of parochialism" and embrace "vast spaces" rather than encouraging a literature in *patois* that is more of a "pastime." However, the author displays his sense of belonging to both a remote FP entity as well as a more tightly knit Geneva collectivity, by being pleased that Geneva's language is now integrated into a larger language area, giving it "a dignity that had been lost because we so readily allowed it". Also a Genevan patriot, he deplores the fact that Geneva, "so proud of its past," had forgotten "its particular language". The *Journal de Genève* does, however, host some opposing points of view, such as that of a public education official in the canton, who rejects any validation of FP and welcomes its disappearance for the sake of Geneva's belonging to the

in the FP domain, which, after first being transnational, then becomes

**4.3 The francoprovençalization of linguistic awareness in Geneva**

Piedmont and in a part of Switzerland" (September 16, 1987).

prestigious French-speaking literary community (July 4, 1934).

**4.4 Subsequent interest for a possible revitalization of FP in Romandy**

that Vaud is a canton where few speakers relearn the "old Latin language"

In the GE-2 corpus, cantons other than Geneva are also often mentioned (Fribourg, 10 texts; Valais, 6; Vaud, 6), and they make it possible to tackle the question of a possible revitalization of FP. In the 1970s, the *Journal de Genève* notes

(March 18, 1978)—since there are hardly any native speakers left. And on a performative mode—aimed at creating the very reality that one calls for by using certain terms—one article evokes the "growing interest" for the language, the "rebirth"

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dialects, Provençal being the most famous, he adds that "some of Romandy's dialects have *even* [emphasis added] formed a linguistic group that a scholar, Mr. Ascoli, called Francoprovençal." The idea of a division of the Gallo-Romance area into three distinct entities fades behind the desire to push Romandy's FP dialects toward Provençal. This "call of the South" also appears in a tribute paid to the linguist André Desponds (August 16, 1983), where FP is described as what "once was the language of a large part of the regions of *southern France* [emphasis added] and of present Romandy." Although the FP area does not include the regions traditionally associated with southern France ("le Midi"), the link between FP and the South are clearly displayed—as is the case in some literary works [19].

#### **5.2 FP group and approximate borders**

The *Gazette de Lausanne* delimits more precisely than the *Journal de Genève* the much-debated question of the boundaries of FP. The term "francoprovençal" appears often in linguistic contexts (rather than literary ones, e.g.). As the glottonym remains little-known to readers, a definition is generally provided. The term "patois" is quite frequent in combinations like "Franco-Provençal *patois*" (September 30, 1978, September 24, 1954). However, in the 1980s, the word "francoprovençal" seems to have taken root despite its previous attachment to the word "patois." And the francophone broadcaster Radio suisse romande, which has played an important role in the promotion of local languages, also uses the nomenclature "francoprovençal" in advertisements for its programs (February 27, 1988).

Some articles present FP as a distinct language with precise delimitations, as well as precise criteria to define where FP starts and ends. Details are sometimes given to explain how FP differs from French or Provençal, for example, as regards the Latin tonic "a" that remained "a" in FP as in Provençal (*portâ*—"porter" [carry]) but became "i" in front of a palatal as in French (*tserdzi*—"charger" [charge]) (July 7, 1979). Furthermore, there is sometimes talk of a "Franco-Provençal group"—a less easily understandable concept—and in some articles, the described language boundaries are even wrong in linguistic terms. In one of them, Neuchâtel does not belong to the FP area any more, and the distinction between *oc* and FP is anything but clear, since "the two groups of Romandy's *patois*" are "one *oïl* group, including the dialects of the Jura and the canton of Neuchâtel, one *oc* group, already related to the Franco-Provençal, with the *patois* of Vaud, Fribourg, Valais and Geneva" (January 13, 1973). In another article (August 29, 1977), we read that the *patois* of "northern Jura" belongs to the "Franco-Provençal group," whereas it is undoubtedly an *oïl* dialect.

There are also approximations concerning FP outside Switzerland. Vaud's *patois* is once described as "belong[ing] to the Franco-Provençal group in the same way as the dialects of Burgundy, […] Auvergne" (March 16, 1978). If indeed a small part of Burgundy (northern Bresse) does belong to the FP area, this is definitely not true of Auvergne. Often it is no longer clear whether FP is an autonomous language or only one element in the Romance continuum (which it also is), as when one reads that FP "makes the transition" between the *oc* and *oïl* languages (July 7, 1979) or that the FP group of dialects "should be attached to French" (July 23, 1955).

#### **5.3 Between discourse on language and discourse on the (little) fatherland**

If the question of FP's territorial boundaries is a central one, it is also because the cross-border nature of FP sometimes competes with identity construction within Romandy. The corpus offers only two examples of the sequence "notre francoprovençal" [our FP] (December 12, 1953, March 30, 1955), while the sequence "notre

**61**

*From Little Fatherlands to Imagined Protonation: The Discourse on Francoprovençal…*

patois" or "nos patois" [our *patois*] is much more frequent. There is only the beginning of the construction of a FP "we group" that goes beyond the traditional discourse on *patois* and local identity. The words "we" and "our" are obviously easier to attach to "patois" than to "francoprovençal," largely because the enumeration of the regions constituting the FP area (necessary since the facts are little-known) forces authors to use a didactic tone that does not facilitate identification, whereas "patois," being the emotional glottonym that traditionally feeds identity discourse readily, is well suited to the mythification of origins: "Our *patois*, direct descendants of the lower Latin spoken by our Gallo-Roman ancestors […] [are] often closer to

In 1907, one author (January 24, 1907) insists on the dignity of "our *patois*", which are neither "dirty Latin" nor "*patois* from Ile-de-France." He explains that they may be part of FP but prefers to group them under the unifying glottonym "*romand,*" which applies only to Switzerland. Though metonymy, he designates the whole by a part (*romand* for FP) and symbolically suggests that the language is more Swiss than French (the term "Romand" can only apply to the Swiss part of the FP area, and its French part is not even mentioned): "Romand is interspersed between oïl dialects and Provençal." Since discourse on language has a strong identity dimension, it is deemed important to make the new discourse on FP coincide with older patriotic discourses, whether they be of regional/cantonal ilk (Vaudois) or of (infra-) national type (Romand/Swiss)—the two approaches not being contradictory. Even in the middle of the twentieth century, "Helvetocentrism" remained present. Thus, in an article on Alpine languages (December 26, 1953), the academic Aldo Dami, in order to show his pride for the diversity of the autochthonous languages of Switzerland, also tends to turn FP into a Swiss language, without focusing on the other parts of the FP area. By evoking the kinship (questionable in linguistic terms) between "our Franco-Provençal" and "our Romansh," he gives FP the benefit of the aura of Romansh, a symbol of Swiss plurilingualism that became a national language in 1938—in order to underscore the uniqueness of Switzerland in regard to its unilingual neighbors, especially nazi Germany and fascist Italy. In so doing, he

Sometimes, one observes less Helvetization than "Vaudization." One article stresses the autonomy of the Vaudois dialect that supposedly "detached itself from the original trunk in gradual transitions" (December 24, 1907). This "glottogenesis" might not be very compatible with dialectology, but it allows the author to individualize Vaud as a little fatherland. And in another example of "Vaudocentrism" (March 2, 1983), this canton even becomes the very heart of the FP area. According to this article, Vaud was the original home of FP, and its *patois* "radiated beyond the cantonal borders, as far as Savoy, Lyonnais, Franche-Comté and Dauphiné". Some experts' comments may have been distorted by editors, but a rewriting of linguistic

The lack of awareness in regard to the unity of the FP area also has to do with the fact that there is no "canonical" literature known and recognized throughout the entire FP area. One article evoking the "long centuries [where] our *patois* were only a spoken language" (January 24, 1907) as well as the "poverty" of the FP literary corpus seems to confuse the FP area and Romandy. It evokes the Swiss part of the area, but, either voluntarily or unconsciously, the author does not allude to older texts of undeniable literary quality stemming from non-Swiss parts of the FP area (Bresse, Lyonnais, etc.). The "pride" and identification possibility that could result from the awareness that the FP area has produced "great works" seems hardly

*DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.81502*

Latin than to French" (August 29, 1981).

all but transforms FP into a national language.

history for identity purposes is what is at stake here.

**5.4 A fragmented awareness of the literary diversity of FP**

#### *From Little Fatherlands to Imagined Protonation: The Discourse on Francoprovençal… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.81502*

patois" or "nos patois" [our *patois*] is much more frequent. There is only the beginning of the construction of a FP "we group" that goes beyond the traditional discourse on *patois* and local identity. The words "we" and "our" are obviously easier to attach to "patois" than to "francoprovençal," largely because the enumeration of the regions constituting the FP area (necessary since the facts are little-known) forces authors to use a didactic tone that does not facilitate identification, whereas "patois," being the emotional glottonym that traditionally feeds identity discourse readily, is well suited to the mythification of origins: "Our *patois*, direct descendants of the lower Latin spoken by our Gallo-Roman ancestors […] [are] often closer to Latin than to French" (August 29, 1981).

In 1907, one author (January 24, 1907) insists on the dignity of "our *patois*", which are neither "dirty Latin" nor "*patois* from Ile-de-France." He explains that they may be part of FP but prefers to group them under the unifying glottonym "*romand,*" which applies only to Switzerland. Though metonymy, he designates the whole by a part (*romand* for FP) and symbolically suggests that the language is more Swiss than French (the term "Romand" can only apply to the Swiss part of the FP area, and its French part is not even mentioned): "Romand is interspersed between oïl dialects and Provençal." Since discourse on language has a strong identity dimension, it is deemed important to make the new discourse on FP coincide with older patriotic discourses, whether they be of regional/cantonal ilk (Vaudois) or of (infra-) national type (Romand/Swiss)—the two approaches not being contradictory. Even in the middle of the twentieth century, "Helvetocentrism" remained present. Thus, in an article on Alpine languages (December 26, 1953), the academic Aldo Dami, in order to show his pride for the diversity of the autochthonous languages of Switzerland, also tends to turn FP into a Swiss language, without focusing on the other parts of the FP area. By evoking the kinship (questionable in linguistic terms) between "our Franco-Provençal" and "our Romansh," he gives FP the benefit of the aura of Romansh, a symbol of Swiss plurilingualism that became a national language in 1938—in order to underscore the uniqueness of Switzerland in regard to its unilingual neighbors, especially nazi Germany and fascist Italy. In so doing, he all but transforms FP into a national language.

Sometimes, one observes less Helvetization than "Vaudization." One article stresses the autonomy of the Vaudois dialect that supposedly "detached itself from the original trunk in gradual transitions" (December 24, 1907). This "glottogenesis" might not be very compatible with dialectology, but it allows the author to individualize Vaud as a little fatherland. And in another example of "Vaudocentrism" (March 2, 1983), this canton even becomes the very heart of the FP area. According to this article, Vaud was the original home of FP, and its *patois* "radiated beyond the cantonal borders, as far as Savoy, Lyonnais, Franche-Comté and Dauphiné". Some experts' comments may have been distorted by editors, but a rewriting of linguistic history for identity purposes is what is at stake here.

#### **5.4 A fragmented awareness of the literary diversity of FP**

The lack of awareness in regard to the unity of the FP area also has to do with the fact that there is no "canonical" literature known and recognized throughout the entire FP area. One article evoking the "long centuries [where] our *patois* were only a spoken language" (January 24, 1907) as well as the "poverty" of the FP literary corpus seems to confuse the FP area and Romandy. It evokes the Swiss part of the area, but, either voluntarily or unconsciously, the author does not allude to older texts of undeniable literary quality stemming from non-Swiss parts of the FP area (Bresse, Lyonnais, etc.). The "pride" and identification possibility that could result from the awareness that the FP area has produced "great works" seems hardly

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dialects, Provençal being the most famous, he adds that "some of Romandy's dialects have *even* [emphasis added] formed a linguistic group that a scholar, Mr. Ascoli, called Francoprovençal." The idea of a division of the Gallo-Romance area into three distinct entities fades behind the desire to push Romandy's FP dialects toward Provençal. This "call of the South" also appears in a tribute paid to the linguist André Desponds (August 16, 1983), where FP is described as what "once was the language of a large part of the regions of *southern France* [emphasis added] and of present Romandy." Although the FP area does not include the regions traditionally associated with southern France ("le Midi"), the link between FP and the South

The *Gazette de Lausanne* delimits more precisely than the *Journal de Genève* the much-debated question of the boundaries of FP. The term "francoprovençal" appears often in linguistic contexts (rather than literary ones, e.g.). As the glottonym remains little-known to readers, a definition is generally provided. The term "patois" is quite frequent in combinations like "Franco-Provençal *patois*" (September 30, 1978, September 24, 1954). However, in the 1980s, the word "francoprovençal" seems to have taken root despite its previous attachment to the word "patois." And the francophone broadcaster Radio suisse romande, which has played an important role in the promotion of local languages, also uses the nomenclature

"francoprovençal" in advertisements for its programs (February 27, 1988).

Some articles present FP as a distinct language with precise delimitations, as well as precise criteria to define where FP starts and ends. Details are sometimes given to explain how FP differs from French or Provençal, for example, as regards the Latin tonic "a" that remained "a" in FP as in Provençal (*portâ*—"porter" [carry]) but became "i" in front of a palatal as in French (*tserdzi*—"charger" [charge]) (July 7, 1979). Furthermore, there is sometimes talk of a "Franco-Provençal group"—a less easily understandable concept—and in some articles, the described language boundaries are even wrong in linguistic terms. In one of them, Neuchâtel does not belong to the FP area any more, and the distinction between *oc* and FP is anything but clear, since "the two groups of Romandy's *patois*" are "one *oïl* group, including the dialects of the Jura and the canton of Neuchâtel, one *oc* group, already related to the Franco-Provençal, with the *patois* of Vaud, Fribourg, Valais and Geneva" (January 13, 1973). In another article (August 29, 1977), we read that the *patois* of "northern Jura" belongs to the "Franco-Provençal group," whereas it is undoubtedly

There are also approximations concerning FP outside Switzerland. Vaud's *patois* is once described as "belong[ing] to the Franco-Provençal group in the same way as the dialects of Burgundy, […] Auvergne" (March 16, 1978). If indeed a small part of Burgundy (northern Bresse) does belong to the FP area, this is definitely not true of Auvergne. Often it is no longer clear whether FP is an autonomous language or only one element in the Romance continuum (which it also is), as when one reads that FP "makes the transition" between the *oc* and *oïl* languages (July 7, 1979) or that the FP

group of dialects "should be attached to French" (July 23, 1955).

**5.3 Between discourse on language and discourse on the (little) fatherland**

If the question of FP's territorial boundaries is a central one, it is also because the cross-border nature of FP sometimes competes with identity construction within Romandy. The corpus offers only two examples of the sequence "notre francoprovençal" [our FP] (December 12, 1953, March 30, 1955), while the sequence "notre

are clearly displayed—as is the case in some literary works [19].

**5.2 FP group and approximate borders**

**60**

an *oïl* dialect.

applicable to the discourse used by many Swiss writing about FP dialects, since the construction of a transnational FP literary community is not on the agenda.

The academic Jean-Philippe Chenaux also argues that the FP area is "extremely poor in literary works" (July 7, 1979), because there were no medieval literary centers frequented by troubadours in FP-speaking regions. Indeed, his representation of FP remains Swiss-centered, and despite some references to other regions and the erudition displayed in the article, there is no mention of Marguerite d'Oingt's work, written in Lyonnais dialect as early as the thirteenth century [20, 21]. The author evokes texts in Vaudois dialect from the eighteenth century, as well as grammars and glossaries, in addition to the codification of spelling or the translation of key texts, but he suggests that these efforts cannot create a corpus of literary works. He does not seem interested in remedying the lack of "good literature" by widening the area of reference or by reflecting on common graphic rules for the entire FP area certainly a complex undertaking [22]. Does this mean that for most authors, FP—in whatever regional forms or boundaries—is seen as being on the verge of collapse as a culturally relevant phenomenon?

#### **5.5 Inevitable disappearance and impossible revitalization?**

In a fairly representative article (August 29, 1981) that evokes the bigger FP context, but still focusses on the "little fatherland," one author estimates that "our [Vaudois] *patois*" are "dying in indifference" and that they will survive only in a few toponyms or typical expressions. This will happen because the "rural civilization" to which they belonged has almost completely disappeared (a frequently advanced argument). The possibility of creating neologisms is not mentioned, since in any case, *patois vaudois* "will not see the twenty-first century," due to the lack of critical mass and of support outside a few activist circles. The "flourishing" dialectal theatre may be no more than an entertaining "swan song," unable to reverse the effects of former language policies and of demographic change. Even if, for some writers, the Vaudois people will "lose their soul" when they lose their "ancestral language", the author does himself not dramatize and notes with a certain fatalism that despite a few *patois* classes in schools, "there will be no miracle."

In an article on the *Glossaire des patois de la Suisse romande* (January 13, 1973), the emphasis is put on the importance of a scientific collection of FP varieties. Thus, the conservatory aspect is put forward, but not the paradigm of transmission. The author, who wants to escape the reproach of being unrealistic, explains: "The *patois*, without being resurrected, deserve to be recorded." The article underscores that paradoxically, the existence of *patoisants* circles is less a sign of vitality than evidence that the dialect is "condemned." The existence of native speakers is not seen as an encouragement to revitalize the FP language, whose rural orientation is seen as anachronistic. In another article mentioning the "swan song" of Vaudois dialects (July 7, 1979), the author mentions the "sweet regrets of seeing disappear this savory language that our ancestors forgot to teach to their children," but the nostalgic tone and the celebration of the "rich indigenous vocabulary" do not turn into a more "radical" discourse. The *Association des patoisants vaudois* and the *Conseil des patoisants romands* might "give new life" to FP, the author adds, but he hardly seems to believe it when he quotes conservative writer Gonzague de Reynold, who once stated "it only takes the will of a few men, perhaps just one" to revive the language.

We find more performative passages, displaying the will to build favorable conditions for a revival of FP through the very use of certain words. Thus, in the article "The Vaudois relearn *patois*" (March 16, 1978), the mention of the "growing interest in this old language" and the *patois* courses attended by young people at the Folk High School (*Volkshochschule*) give the illusion that the next generation of *patois*

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French language.

*From Little Fatherlands to Imagined Protonation: The Discourse on Francoprovençal…*

speakers is ready for combat. Furthermore, the author of "Renaissance of Vaudois *patois*?" (March 31, 1979) welcomes the transition between the declining number of FP native speakers and the few new speakers encouraged by a program from the Education Department—followed by 40 teachers. Nevertheless, his optimism

Various contributors, while internalizing the idea of the inevitable disappearance of FP, insist on placing the cause of FP behind that of (regional or international) French. One of them believes that the Vaudois language can be cultivated "without nostalgia" and especially to better understand the current state of French in Romandy (March 2, 1983). Another one displays his Francophilia in order to legitimize the defense of *Patois* without being seen as reactionary and then makes

There is a very great interest in all of us speaking French […]. The moral unity, the ease and the pleasure in personal and general relationships then increase. But it is no less urgent to preserve our *patois*. This act of patriotic piety will not save them from death […]: at least they will remain like the samples of animal species that become rare […] and [can be seen] behind the windows of a museum (January 24,

Another author (October 30, 1955) names the benefits of *patois* as a "bulwark" to preserve or even improve the quality of French. According to him, the best pupils are those who, speaking only *patois* in their family, learned French at school instead of learning "faulty" French on the street. FP, far from hindering the command of good French, can "enrich it with its sap, its concrete richness, its penchant for images"—the opposition between picturesque *patois* and rational French is a classical one. Moreover, he believes that *patois* do not weaken Romands in their struggle against Germanization and rather make it possible to contain the "Germanic push" at the language border, since "our peasant populations" that are faithful to "the accent of their race" stay more attached to "their corner of land." And he concludes: "to serve the French language we love, let us participate in the defence of our