The Flemish movement of French Flanders and the maintenance of Vlaemsch

Abstract

This thesis will trace the history of the Flemish movement of French Flanders, the various associations involved in it and its prominent figures and examine the importance of the regional language - Vlaemsch - to the movement and to regional identity. It will seek to account for the decline of Flemish in French Flanders with particular reference to economic and social change in this region as well as to central government attitudes and policies regarding minority languages in France. The thesis will analyse the efforts of the Flemish movement of French Flanders to ensure the survival of Vlaemsch, in particular focusing on the support the movement enjoys from Belgian organisations. This will necessitate a discussion of the differences between Vlaemsch and standard Dutch and attitudes within the Flemish movement - and French Flanders as a whole - towards the two language varieties. It will examine the role of education in the maintenance of the regional language and seek to illustrate the limitations of a programme of promotion of a minority language based principally on the teaching of that language. Finally, the thesis will seek to demonstrate that, while Vlaemsch is likely to continue to decline as a language of usual communication in French Flanders, both it and standard Dutch standard Dutch may have a cultural, symbolic and practical role to play in the region of the foreseeable future.

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