COLLECTIVE PARLEMU CORSU !

PRESS CONFERENCE OF CREATION
MAY 26th 2007

35 persons were gathered this day. They are the first 35 of the list of people who signed our petition.

I. WHO ARE WE ?

We are people of the civil society strongly attached to the Corsican language. Anxious of its health, we want to mobilize ourselves to make it find its natural place in the society.

Today in front of you are gathered people of all horizons : farmers, doctors, professors, teachers, tradesmen, heads of company, employees, artists, people without work or retired...

We represent neither a political structure, nor a trade-union organization. We are not either the union of a corporation even if at the beginning it was initiated by professors. This is in fact natural : the professors are naturally concerned with the future of the Corsican language since they ensure its transmission.

II. HOW WAS THE MOVEMENT INITIATED

In April 2004, several professors of Corsican Language and Culture recently issued from the benches of the university gathered. Together they drew up a very negative report on the state of the language which they taught.

These professors joined little by little by other colleagues, estimated that in spite of the efforts made at school, Corsican is still devalued and practically taught like a foreign language on its own ground. Finally in the street its use is becoming more and more artificial. These professors had then enough of hearing from the administrative authorities a speech always ready to embellish the situation. They thus decided to be linked by creating an joint comittee which they wanted militant. Having in memory that it had been very difficult to obtain Corsican diploma (CAPES), they are convinced that the fight for the defense of the language cannot stop. Thus was born "Mossa pà has lingua" in April 2005.

Conscious that the school alone cannot save the language but only take part in its rescue, these professors imagined a plan of development of the language in the whole society. This plan was presented in a press conference on June 29, 2005 in Ajaccio, i.e. just before the CTC announced its will to create the Council of the Corsican Language and Culture (CLCC) to think of the spreading of the Corsican language (on July 1, 2005). Within this CLCC a scientific committee is in charge of making proposals. In January 2007 it produced a report which will be submitted to the vote of the Assembly of Corsica in the next few weeks (a vote that was to take place at the end of March but given in July).

During all this time, thanks to a network of friends and familiars, the gathering of the professors widens with other components of the Corsican people to carry with more forces its claims and to give them a greater legitimacy.

It is this new gathering which today finds itself in front of you in Corté.

III. WHAT WE WANT

1. To launch a call

After several meetings over several months the idea of a petition was born. It summarizes all the points which we consider necessary to achieve a bilingual society. We are talking about putting Corsicans in front of their responsibilities as well as the elected officials and people in general. Today little are those who are against the Corsican language ! But not beeing any more against does not mean yet to be truly in its favour. It is clear that many people do not realize all the efforts that the diffusion of the Corsican language can generate. We want people to be aware that this will mean a lot of work and a lot of time.

On this day we are presenting the petition in an official way and launching a call to the people asking to join our step of creation of the collective.

2. To make the gathering grow slowly but surely

A collective, that means that at the end of a certain time we intend to convince various structures of the island, associative, trade-union and political, to come with us.

But before, we want to bring the individuals together to show that the population is ready with this mobilization for its language, away from party quarrels.

The language belongs to all. Its spreading concerns everyone.

IV. THE PETITION : a plan for a bilingual society

Our petition intervenes in a particular context. The Corsican Territorial Collectivity is thinking of a plan of development for the Corsican language. This proves that today the health of the Corsican language concerns all the insular public actors. So, before explaining in details this petition we want to expose our opinion about the report of the Scientific Committee. Compared with work that we had already produced, it is clear for us that certain points are interesting, but they are not sufficient.

1. Our opinion on the report of the Scientific Committee

- mentalities have changed !
The elected officials of the Assembly seem to be concerned with the health of the Corsican language. They even want to create in the society "a dynamic of bilingualism", which was unthinkable a few years ago. It is obvious, there is a real change in the mentalities of our elected officials. One can affirm that they crossed a step. We recognize it and we are delighted !

- That is not enough
this positive evolution meets a popular will : more that ever, the Corsican people want that its language should live ! But for us the measures suggested will not be enough to make Corsican language a real living language. This this what the experts charged by the elected officials recognize while writing the report : "these are measures a minima which will allow to stop the decline of Corsican". That means that these measures will only be able to prevent Corsican from dying. For as much they will not make it possible to make its use fluent. 20 years ago such an initiative would undoubtedly have offered important results. Today they intervene too late !

In 10 or 20 years where will be the Corsican language, if we are satisfied with what the Scientific Committee proposes (provided that this report is applied and adopted by the Assembly) ? It will not have died . Then the second step necessary to its safeguard should be made. But waiting until then is not without risks ! Indeed these measures require a clear will from the population. However, even if they will be able to work the consciences by developing the Corsican language, it is impossible to affirm that people will fight as they should for Corsican. Needless to say, the Corsican language is not the language of the bread any more and no formation is obligatory. In addition, in comparison with the evolution of the population and migratory flows, how make sure that the inhabitants will still be concerned with the Corsican language in 10 or 20 years.
Lastly, why wait ? The efforts to make to develop the use of Corsican will be even more important. That will require even more human investment, even more money.

- the framework must be widened
It is necessary to be more ambitious. More precisely it is necessary to give another statute to the Corsican language. Today it is still regarded as "  under language " , underestimated on its own territory. It is necessary to go from the incitement to the obligation regarding the training of Corsican in school but also outside the school. The Scientific Committee of the CLCC remained within the framework of the current legislation to imagine its plan of diffusion of the Corsican language. A framework that we find too narrow. For the Corsican language it will be necessary to make it evolve.

We precisely worked on several proposals. As we already stated before, these proposals are exposed in our petition.

2.The detail of the petition

(cf the petition and its development)

V. CONCLUSION

For us, in comparison with the degraded state of the Corsican language, we cannot waste time and take the risk to defer the installation of measures which appear essential to us for the safeguard of Corsican. What we ask is considerable but necessary. That will be expensive and take much time. But we are convinced : it is possible if a real political will meets a popular will and vice versa. That is why we say that it depends on all (elected officials and population) to take their responsibilities if they declare to be in favour of the use of Corsican.

Let‘s stop chattering, let us give ourselves means to speak Corsican !

Let’s stop chattering and PARLEMU CORSU !