The Interaction of Cultures in a Multilingual space: the Franco-Flemish Confl ict from the Origins to the Present Day

Abstract

In the context of modern globalization processes, cultures do not always come to dialogue. The subject of this article is the conflict on the territory of modern Belgium, which dates back to about the III century AD. The object of the study is modern manifestations of the Franco-Flemish conflict. At the heart of the Franco-Flemish conflict lies, first of all, the language confrontation, on which factors of a social, economic and especially political nature have been layered. The attitude of the Belgian population towards the conflict is reflected in various resources: scientific articles, encyclopedic data, journalistic publications, mass-media of Wallonia and Flanders, in corpus data, social networks, fiction and in the comments on the above sources. The goal set in this article is to investigate a multidimensional conflict, its causes, its course, the current status, and to draw a conclusion on its development trends. The hypothesis of the study is that the current status of the Franco-Flemish conflict is determined by recession or deliberate silence, as well as deterrence by the political elites of the kingdom of Belgium.

References

1. Bakelandt F. 2011. Politicheskii krizis i vopros natsional’noi identichnosti v Bel’gii: o flamandsko-vallonskom konflikte [Political crisis and the question of national identity in Belgium: on the Flemish-Walloon conflict]. In T.Yu Zagryazkina (ed.) French-speaking cultures: problems of language and society: Textbook. Moscow, Izdatel’stvo Moskovskogo universiteta, pp. 95–117. (In French)

2. Edlichko A.I. 2017. Kommertsializatsiya yazyka v aspekte yazykovoi politiki gosudarstva [The commercialization of language in the context of state language policy]. Moscow State University Bulletin. Series 19: Linguistics and Intercultural Communication, no. 4, pp. 118–127. (In Russ.)

3. Zagryazkina T.Yu. 1996. Protsessy prostranstvennoi differentsiatsii i integratsii frantsuzskogo yazyka: avtoref. dokt. diss. po spets. 10.02.05 [The processes of spatial differentiation and integration of the French language]. Moscow. (In Russ.)

4. Zagryazkina T.Yu. 2019. Fenomen Frankofonii: ot universalizma k kul’turnomu raznoobraziyu [The Phenomenon of Francophonie: from Universalism to Cultural Diversity]. Moscow State University Bulletin. Series 19: Linguistics and Intercultural Communication, no. 2, pp. 9–23. (In Russ.)

5. Nevezhina E.A. 2017. Frankoyazychnyi areal Bel’gii: dinamika yazykovykh protsessov [Belgium’s Francophone Area: the Dynamics of Language Processes]. Moscow State University Bulletin. Series 19: Linguistics and Intercultural Communication, no. 1, pp. 74–80. (In Russ.)

6. Pantin V.I., Lapkin V.V. 2015. Etnopoliticheskie i etnosotsial’nye protsessy na postsovetskom prostranstve [Ethnopolitical and ethnosocial processes in the post-Soviet space]. Polis. Politicheskie issledovaniya [Polis. Political research], no. 5, pp. 75–93. DOI: https://doi.org/10.17976/jpps/2015.05.07. (In Russ.)

7. Razumova L.V. 2014. Yazykovaya situatsiya v Bel’gii v istoricheskoi perspektive : monografiya [The language situation in Belgium in a historical perspective: a monograph]. Chita, ZabGU. (In Russ.)

8. Stepanov G.V. 1976. Tipologiya yazykovykh sostoyanii i situatsii v stranakh romanskoi rechi [Typology of linguistic conditions and situations in countries of Roman speech]. Moscow, Nauka. (In Russ.)

9. Farukshin M.Kh. 2017. Institutsional’nye osnovy eticheskikh federatsii [Institutional foundations of ethical federations]. Polis, no. 2, pp. 103–117. (In Russ.)

10. Blampain D., Goosse A., Klinkenberg J.-M., Wilmet M. 1997. Le franҫais en Belgique. Louvain-la-Neuve, Duculot. (In French)

11. Dassargues A., Perrez J., Reuchamps M. 2014. Les relations entre langue et politique en Belgique: linguistiques ou communautaires ? Revue internationale de politique comparée, no. 4. Vol. 21, pp. 105–128. URL: https://www.cairn.inforevue-internationale-de-politiquecomparee-2014-4-page-105.htm (accessed: 24.11.2019). (In French)

12. Francard M. 1995. Nef des Fous ou radeau de la Méduse? Les conflits linguistiques en Belgique. Linx, no. 33. Situations du franҫais, pp. 31–46. URL: https://www.persee.fr/doc/linx_0246-8743_1995_num_33_2_1390. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3406/linx.1995.1390 (accessed: 15.11.2019). (In French)

13. Lafontaine D. 1997. Les attitudes et les représentations linguistiques. In Blampain D., Goosse A., Klinkenberg J.-M., Wilmet M. Le franҫais en Belgique. Louvain-la-Neuve, Duculot, pp. 376–402. (In French)

14. Legros E. 1948. La frontière des dialectes romans en Belgique. Liège, H. Vaillant-Carmanne. (In French)

15. Reuchamps M. 2008. L’actualité du fédéralisme. Perceptions et préférences fédérales des citoyens francophones belges. Communication présentée lors de la Tribune Jeunes Chercheurs du 4ème Congrès de l’Association Belge de Science Politique – Communauté française (ABSP-CF), Louvain-la-Neuve (UCL), 24–25 avril. URL: https://orbi.uliege.be/handle/2268/628 (accessed: 24.11.2019). (In French)