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Language, Ethnicity, and the State: Minority Languages in the EU

Language, Ethnicity, and the State: Minority Languages in the EU. Ch5: Irish Language, Irish Identity By Camille C. O’Reilly. Introduction. Irish was sole language until 1169 Anglo-Norman invasion

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Language, Ethnicity, and the State: Minority Languages in the EU

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  1. Language, Ethnicity, and the State: Minority Languages in the EU Ch5: Irish Language, Irish Identity By Camille C. O’Reilly

  2. Introduction • Irish was sole language until 1169 Anglo-Norman invasion • Irish was dominant language until 1601 defeat Battle of Kinsale -- after that English was enforced and Irish went into decline, Irish speakers economically & socially marginalized • Late 18th-19th c Celtic revival focused mainly on history -- did not promote language use • 1845-49 famine and emigration disproportionately affected Irish speakers • Irish language justified identification of Irish nation, but this relationship developed differently north vs. south

  3. The Republic of Ireland (South) • Partition 1922 • Post-partition South: Irish is “national” language, English is an official language • 1920s-30s language strategy for the impoverished 16% of Ireland where Irish was still spoken: 1) economic development, 2) revival strategy for other 84%, 3) use Irish in public service, 4) modernize and standardize Irish

  4. The Republic of Ireland, cont’d. • 1922-1948 -- pursuit of 4 points (above) to support nationalist ideology • 1948-1970 -- stagnation and decline in public support for state policy • 1970-present -- benign neglect, language maintenance only, not revival

  5. The Republic of Ireland, cont’d. • Public opinion • Strong association between language and identity, but this does not correlate with use • Even most positive language users are pessimistic about its future • Antipathy toward language/nationalism due to violence in North • However, Irish-medium schools are growing

  6. Northern Ireland: revival & opposition • N Ireland is part of UK, a primarily Protestant state with an Irish Catholic minority (1/3) population • Learning/speaking Irish has political implications for Irish nationalism in opposition to British identity

  7. Northern Ireland: revival & opposition, cont’d. • 1922-1972 -- Anti-Irish state, where Irish is a foreign language (treated like German, French in schools, and its teaching has been gradually restricted more and more), banned from BBC • 1970s-present -- number of Irish-medium schools has been growing, language revival activity in Belfast: newspaper, theater, café, newspaper, development of employment opportunities for Irish speakers

  8. Northern Ireland: revival & opposition, cont’d. • Irish people have very different political agendas, but agree on the importance of the Irish language • Irish language provides a non-violent venue for asserting Irish identity, which is becoming more accepted in N. Ireland

  9. Irish language, Irish identity • Notions of Irish identity and its link to language have changed over time and are different in North and South • Both North and South have a variety of discourses (ideological directions) • North: decolonizing vs. cultural discourse vs. rights discourse • South: national language discourse, cultural discourse, minority language discourse, dead language discourse

  10. Irish language, Irish identity, cont’d. • Northern discourses: • decolonizing -- focuses on political (and cultural) independence, Sinn Fein, aggressive nationalism • cultural -- the language has inherent value for its beauty and uniqueness, interest in history, songs, literature • rights discourse -- language is part of human rights, Irish language is “multipoliticized”

  11. Irish language, Irish identity, cont’d. • Southern discourses: • national language -- emphasis on pride for one’s own language, overcoming insecurity about Irish identity • cultural discourse (similar to North) • minority language (similar to rights) -- Irish language seeks parity of esteem with other regional languages of Europe, gov’t has responsibility to support minority language • dead language -- Irish cannot be fully revived, is not as useful in the EU, and represents extreme nationalism

  12. Irish language, Irish identity, cont’d. • North -- language is part of a political identity that sets Irish apart from British in the face of British economic and cultural hegemony • South -- Irish suffer from an inferiority complex which they would like to overcome

  13. Irish identity, Irish language & EU • Republic of Ireland -- gov’t officials would rather pass responsibility on to EU, but this is unlikely to provide significant change, and public fears EU will contribute to loss of Irish -- desire to revive Irish so that it can be one of the languages of the EU, part of that pluralism > Europeanism • Northern Ireland -- EU membership has helped Irish, despite British reluctance to sign Charter for Regional or Minority Languages (signed 2000), increased association of language with Irish identity > nationalism

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