The Unifying Aspects of Cultures

SECTION:

Standard Variations and Conceptions of Language in Various Language Cultures

Johan De Caluwe (Ghent University - Belgium)
Conflicting language conceptions within the Dutch speaking part of Belgium

Dutch is spoken in the northern part of Belgium (Flanders, 6 million inhab.), and also in the Netherlands, the neighbouring country (15 million inhab.). The Netherlands have gained political independence as early as the 17th century, and concomitantly there has been a "normal" development towards standardization in written and spoken Dutch. Flanders on the other hand, has always been part of larger political entities. For centuries French was predominant in government and administration, and the standardization process of Dutch in Flanders was blocked. From the last quarter of the 19th century onwards, the developing cultural and economic elite in Flanders, in its struggle for equal rights for the Dutch-speaking part of Belgium, therefore explicitly preferred association with the standard variety of Dutch in the larger country, the Netherlands.

In the last century the balance of power in Belgium has shifted completely, bringing the Dutch speaking region of Flanders in a dominant position both economically and politically, and establishing Dutch as the only official language in Flemish government and administration. In het last few decades, from the 1970's onwards, this has produced unexpected effects on the language attitudes of the Flemish people. The vast majority of the population will still accept the "Dutch" Dutch, i.e. the Dutch of the Netherlands, as the norm language in more formal speech and writing. But they no longer accept Dutch Dutch as a model for their informal speech and writing, which makes up at least 90 % of their communication. This growing reluctance to associate with the language norms of the larger Dutch speaking neighbouring country has provoked furious reactions from an "established" generation of writers, politicians, and ... linguists. Language policy in Flanders therefore is in a critical situation now, torn between two conflicting tendencies: (1) the more popular tendency, with a more instrumental conception of language, claiming the right for the Flemish people to speak and write the way they themselves prefer; (2) the more elitist tendency, with a more traditional, academic conception of language, predicting loss of (international) status for Dutch if it would turn from a monocentric into a pluricentric language. It will be clear from the situation in Flanders that different language cultures with different ideas about language norms can co-exist within a single language community.

THE UNIFYING ASPECTS OF CULTURES