Diffusion and Transmission of Francoprovençal: A Study of Speakers’ Linguistic Conscience
Résumé
This chapter examines the transmission and valorisation of the regional language and culture of the Francoprovençal area. It focuses on representations of linguistic and cultural plurality in an area in which French and Francoprovençal coexist. The identity value attributed to Francoprovençal reveals a clear distinction between vertical transmission and horizontal diffusion; there is a tendency towards horizontal valorisation (language diffusion) rather than vertical valorisation (intergenerational transmission). The study of speakers’ linguistic conscience through semi-structured interviews allows the interviewees’ comments to be situated within the minority languages’ revitalisation framework in the French Alps area and, more generally, in the context of the social history of the languages of France.