LL-L "Language policies" 2002.08.07 (03) [E]

[Lowlands-L]

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From: Simon Hoare <simon.hoare at mail.be>
Subject: Language Policies

The more I live in Belgium, the more I begin to suspect that the
north/south Flemish/Walloon divide scenario for Belgium is an
over-simplification. Maybe someone can enlighten me.

Here is what I perceive at any rate:

Wallonia i.e. "the south" (notwithstanding the tiny German-speaking
community) is essentially monolingual French-speaking (with some use of
French dialects here and there: Walloon, Picard, Lorraine, Gaumais
etc.). Any socio-economic need to speak other languages is relatively
recent. French is largely understood to be the language of France and
the basis of the local standard. Population is largely Francophile as a
result and has a strong participation in French (of France) culture.

Brussels is officially bilingual. The local population seems to be far
more french-speaking and francophile. Many local people are hostile to
the Flemish claim that Brussels is theirs and more importantly their
capital. Yet, among French-speakers, even among families of Walloon
immigrants, attachment to Wallonia is quite weak and any kinship is
based mainly on the use of the French language. Dutch-speaking locals
from Brussels tend to consider themselves Flemish, and will probably
speak local Flemish dialect. The modern economic weight of Flanders and
the fact that most Flemings tend to speak more languages and have a
greater work ethic means that Flemish workers are highly present in
Brussels, although the resident Flemish population is low. Also Brussels
is the capital of Belgium and contains its national institutions and
companies. These are by and large Flemish dominated but not absolutely.

Flemings see the French-speaking character of Brussels as artificial and
related to the former social status of French, which has traditionally
had elitist connotations for the Flemish. It used to Flemish - The
French-speaking elite made it French-speaking - The Flemish have got rid
of the French speaking elite "in the rest of Flanders" and now want
their capital back. In reality the "elite" in Belgium is largely
Flemish.

To the French-speakers in Brussels the French-speaking reality of
Brussels is clear and straightforward. Why change it? They don't
consider themselves and elite and by and large consider actions to
increase the Flemish presence in Brussels as hostile. Which is true in a
way. Many Flemings don't want to share Brussels they "want it back".

Brussels has for a long time been the center of administration for
various entities in these part of Europe i.e. Spanish netherlands,
Belgium etc. I think even the Spanish used French as the language of
administration.

There's more to Brussels but that's enough I think.

Flanders is complicated: For a start its borders vary depending on who
you talk to. For a Fleming, it is north Belgium. For a French-speaking
Belgium, it is north Belgium except for Brussels. The official language
in the Flemish Region (north Belgium except for Brussels) is Dutch.
Previously upper echelons of Flemish society spoke French (hence elitist
connotations) while the common people spoke various low German dialects.
In the nineteenth century, newly independent Belgium having freed itself
from the United Netherlands did not favour Dutch as a language. So the
situation was that French was the De Facto if not De Jure language of
Belgium. To cut a long story short French was the language of polite
society and officialdom - ordinary people spoke low german dialects in
the north (includung Brussels) and french-based dialects in the south.
French had naturally greater porosity with Walloon etc. Now Flanders is
a very beautiful place, with a rich history. For this reason it played a
big role in Belgian identity and romanticism. Yet to be Flemish and to
speak French with a Flemish accent in the nineteenth century did not
carry great status. To get ahead you had to speak French. But this
paradoxical romanticisation of Flanders while its common inhabitants
were placed on a lower level in society to a French speaking elite (many
of which were Flemings who had been educated in French) led to
nationalism and more concretely the Flemish Movement. Dutch was picked
as a vehicle not because it was the language of Flanders but because it
was close enough to what people spoke. Dutch remains the language of the
Netherlands and attatchment to and use of local dialect remains high, as
does knowledge of other languages (German, English). They could have
picked German instead of Dutch.

The point of all this is that the modern reality of Belgium has been
created by circumstances of the nineteenth century. The de-Frenchifying
of Flanders was began as a social revolution and as long as Brussels
remains French-speaking, this revolution will be considered incomplete.
The divide in Belgium to my mind is not geographical north south - it is
somewhere between two extreme points of view: a nostalgic yearning for
la Belgique de Papa and a desire for an onafhankelijk Vlaanderen. I'm
not really sure there has ever been any concentration of power in
Wallonia or any social status or indeed any social status in being
Walloon. French-speakers tend to consider themselves Belgian and
Dutch-speakers tend to consider themselves Flemish.

PS I once read something in a Dutch newspaper about the Flemish behaving
as a minority in a country in which they are the majority.

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