TY - JOUR
T1 - Institutions, identities and lesser-used languages in Wales and Brittany
AU - COLE, Alistair Mark
AU - Williams, Colin
N1 - Funding Information:
The Ofis ar Brezhonneg is the most important institutional innovation. It is not, strictly speaking, a language board with statutory powers. Its tools are those of persuasion rather than obligation or constraint. But it has been very active in promoting the cause of the Breton language, notably through its commercial technical translation service, its bilingual sign-posting activities (for local government, hospitals, schools) and the advice it provides to firms, agencies and individuals on all Breton language issues. The Ofis has its main office in Carhaix, the cultural and political capital of Breton language activists, with sub-offices in Rennes and Nantes. It is financed by a major grant from the Brittany regional council, by lesser grants from other subnational authorities and by the commercial service it provides. The Ofis sees its work as mainly technical, a tool at the service of public and private users. It looks to the Welsh Language Board and other language agencies for inspiration. The Ofis seeks to divorce the language debate from issues of identity or culture. Ideally, language planning should concern issues of planning permission, building regulations or obligatory education. Here we meet concerns that although mainstreamed in Wales are of much much more limited relevance in Brittany.
Funding Information:
This article reports findings from the ESRC-funded project on ‘Devolution and Decentralization in Wales and Brittany’ (ESRC grant no. L219252007), part of the Council’s Devolution and Constitutional Change programme. We thank the Council for its support.
PY - 2004/12
Y1 - 2004/12
N2 - In this article we compare and contrast the very different approaches adopted towards 'regional' languages in Wales and the French region of Brittany. Consistent with our interest in the dynamics of devolution, decentralization and regional governance, we focus principally upon the interplay between institutions, actors and opinion at the meso-level, using structured interviews, documentary evidence and survey material to back up our findings. In their own way, the Breton and Welsh cases both demonstrate the resilience of national paths and the effects of institutions on political outcomes.
AB - In this article we compare and contrast the very different approaches adopted towards 'regional' languages in Wales and the French region of Brittany. Consistent with our interest in the dynamics of devolution, decentralization and regional governance, we focus principally upon the interplay between institutions, actors and opinion at the meso-level, using structured interviews, documentary evidence and survey material to back up our findings. In their own way, the Breton and Welsh cases both demonstrate the resilience of national paths and the effects of institutions on political outcomes.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=11944257512&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/1359756042000315487
DO - 10.1080/1359756042000315487
M3 - Journal article
AN - SCOPUS:11944257512
SN - 1359-7566
VL - 14
SP - 554
EP - 579
JO - Regional & Federal Studies
JF - Regional & Federal Studies
IS - 4
ER -