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French is important in Africa | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages |  | |
| s_allard Triglot Senior Member Canada Joined 5431 days ago 2704 posts - 5425 votes  Speaks: French*, English, Spanish Studies: Polish | Message 17 of 21 01 May 2010 at 1:06am | IP Logged |
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Quite a long post, indeed. Thanks for taking all this time. Right now I'm not able to to respond to the many important comments and clarifications. However, I will make the time to debate one very fundamental issue, the size of the population of French-official-language or francophone Africa.
"The total number of people living in Francophone countries in Africa amounts to 335 million people ( 257 million of them live in Sub-Saharan Africa while the remaining 77.3 million reside in Maghreb). These figures are essentially correct. The real question is how many are French-speakers or francophones. The fundamental question is: How do we define francophone? Here is a quote from Wikipedia on la francophonie: "Dans la question de la francophonie, il faut distinguer les pays où le français est langue officielle (unique ou non), ceux où le français est la langue maternelle d'une grande partie de la population, ceux où il est langue de culture, ceux où il est utilisé par certaines classes sociales de la population, etc. Or, ces catégories ne se recoupent pas. Dans certains pays par exemple, bien qu'étant langue officielle, le français n'est pas la langue maternelle de la population, ni celle couramment utilisée par celle-ci." How many people know that the largest country of the francophonie is not France but the République démocratique du Congo? Again I quote Wikipedia: "La République démocratique du Congo est le troisième plus vaste pays d’Afrique derrière le Soudan et l'Algérie et le plus peuplé d'Afrique centrale. C'est le pays le plus peuplé de la francophonie avec une population estimée à plus de 68 millions d'habitants". In terms of knowledge and usage of the French language, what is the difference between France and the République démocratique du Congo (RDC)? Now, I'm not trying to be funny or facetious. The difference is plainly visible as soon as you step out the airport in Kinshasa or in Paris. In France, French is the maternal and first language of about 95% of the population. I don't have an exact percentage for the RDC, but I suspect that it is the very opposite of France, that is around 5-10%. Of course, many more people claim a knowledge of French and can be rightfully considered "francophones" in the etymological sense of the word. Is the RDC a francophone country like France? No, because French is not the maternal and first language of the vast majority of the inhabitants of the RDC. This is what irks me. By calling these Sub-Saharan countries francophone not only are we masking a fundamental difference between the different French-speaking countries but we also minimize the role of the indigenous languages used by the majority of the population. This is why I prefer the term French official language countries. I know it's cumbersome, but it is more accurate. I don't have time right now to address some of the other issues, but I would like to raise two points briefly. What is the language of popular culture such as song and dance in these so-called francophone countries? What is the language of the top 25 songs of the Congolese hit parade? Despite the titles of the tunes, it's certainly not French. At other the end of the social ladder, the language of written literature in the francophone countries is French, of course. An interesting question here is the relationship between the authors of this literature and the majority population that has a different first language. How many African writers actually live their country of origin or in France and other countries (this includes the quoted Ivoirian author and critic Véronique Tadjo who was actually born in France and now lives in London)? What is the state of literary book publishing in francophone Africa? The essential point is that despite all the practical and historical reasons that explain and justify the use of French as the official language in many African countries, it is a second or third language for the majority of the population, totally unlike the situation of the francophone countries of the Northern hemisphere. On a final note, I think a similar argument could be made that India is not an English-speaking country. English is widely spoken there and one of the official languages. But should one call India the largest English-speaking country in the world? Larger than the United States? 2 persons have voted this message useful | |
| Olympia Triglot Senior Member United States Joined 5982 days ago 195 posts - 244 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, Portuguese Studies: Old English, French | Message 18 of 21 01 May 2010 at 3:11am | IP Logged |
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Well, my roommate was raised in West Africa (Cote d'Ivoire) and went to a regular, local school in Abidjan (largest
city) where French was the only language of instruction. She says she was never exposed to any other language with the local people. Now, she's not an indigenous African (half caucasian from the United States and half Arab from Lebanon), but most of the people she associate with were--her parents thought this was important during their time in Africa. Obviously there are many other indigenous languages being spoken in Africa that far outnumber European languages and have far more speakers, but in places like Cote d'Ivoire French dominates in the metropolitan, more densely populated areas. Not that they're more important than the small rural villages, because they're not, but for most practical purposes French is used and is probably the most widely understood. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| s_allard Triglot Senior Member Canada Joined 5431 days ago 2704 posts - 5425 votes Speaks: French*, English, Spanish Studies: Polish | Message 19 of 21 01 May 2010 at 3:58am | IP Logged |
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An interesting observation from Olympia. I do suspect however, that, given the ethnic origin of the roommate she probably mixed with French-speakers. Cote d'ivoire is an interesting case because of the very large number of African language (about 77) and the widespread use of French and Dioula or Dyula as vehicular languages. What happens when the two vehicular languages blend?
In my original post, I spoke of the emergence of local varieties of French and the role of "le français tirailleurs". Here is a quote from Wikipedia on the French of Cote d'ivoire. "Le français populaire ivoirien aussi appelé français de Moussa anciennement et péjorativement dénommé français petit nègre, désigne une variété indigène du français parlé en Côte d'Ivoire et principalement dans la ville d'Abidjan. Cette variété de français diffère du français parlé en France de par ses expressions et du fait qu'il a adapté dans son vocabulaire certains mots provenant d'un parler argotique local: le nouchi. Il s'agit d'un français employé par la partie de la population n'ayant pas terminé ses études et ayant appris le français dans la rue et sur le tard. Il tend à devenir le français véhiculaire d'Abidjan et du reste du pays." I like the very last sentence. "It (the indigenous variety of French) is becoming the vehicular French of Abidjan and the rest of the country". Now, I'm sure the Ivoirian elites are horrified by the rise of this variety of French because of its origins in "le français de Moussa" or "français tirailleurs" and insist that the exclusive private schools teach only pure French. At the same time, I'm convinced those same children are attracted to this forbidden linguistic fruit. And that's exactly how everybody ends up speaking nouchi. Could nouchi become the national language of Cote d'Ivoire? Maybe, but there will be a lot of kicking and screaming. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| s_allard Triglot Senior Member Canada Joined 5431 days ago 2704 posts - 5425 votes Speaks: French*, English, Spanish Studies: Polish | Message 20 of 21 02 May 2010 at 12:17am | IP Logged |
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While I have minute, I would like to address that old argument of French as the best lingua franca for francophone Africa. There is no doubt that a common language at the official level is very valuable, especially for international relations. And, of course, French is a great world language, as everybody in this forum knows. But at what cost to Africa?
I would not be ranting here if all these African countries had one or more indigenous languages as national languages with official status comparable to that of French. This is the situation of English in India. The most common argument against choosing official languages has been that it would revive ethnic tensions. Also, if one is going to impose a foreign language on some groups, why not impose a language that is foreign to everybody? Let me point out in passing that most of the African countries concerned have populations larger than that of Norway which has the luxury of two official varieties of the Norwegian language. All these countries have local languages that are already regional lingua francas. Why not choose any one of these as a national language and retain French as an international language, much like English is becoming is in Europe? Wolof in Senegambia, Dyula in Cote d'Ivoire, Lingala in the République démocratique du Congo. Actually, the mandinké language group could encompass much of West Africa. If the politics and economics were right, there is actually no obstacle to finding a suitable lingua franca. I could even see the possibility of a French-based creole like that of Haiti. When I speak of the cost of French, I'm thinking first of all of the absence of national languages and the implications for national identity and national culture. How many countries are there in the world where the sole official language is spoken natively by a tiny minority? There are examples of countries with multiple national languages (Belgium, Switzerland, Canada, even Spain) because there are significant populations of those languages. And of course many countries have significant linguistic minorities. But, with the exception of Africa, the national language is that of the majority. The situation of Africa reflects a colonial past of foreign domination. Although much has changed, one still sees today a language hierarchy that has not really evolved. Who speaks the best French? At the very top are the French expats, then the Africans who have studied and lived in Europe, the middle class who send their kids to private schools, and so on down to the masses who speak what used to be called "petit-nègre". What this means is that mastery of French is closely correlated to schooling and time spent in Europe. It also means that the vast majority of the population speak an approximate French more or less influenced by an indigenous language. If this were not bad enough, it must be pointed out that the French language, unlike Spanish, and totally unlike English, is codified within a system of norms totally centralized in Paris, France, and culminating in the Académie française. Living in Québec, I'm well aware of the endless debates about good and bad French relative to the French of Europe, or supposedly International French. Well, if Québécois French is low on the prestige scale of varieties of French, you can be sure that African French, in its popular forms, is at the very low end of the scale. Although modern French dictionaries are falling over themselves to demonstrate their openness to all the varieties of French around the world, the truth of the matter is that most prestigious variety of French is that of the Parisian elite. For example, the Académie française, made up of 40 old men (with the odd woman) in funny green suits, doesn't really control the French language, but it is an institution of great prestige. Membership is restricted to French citizens. The only African member was Léopold Sédar Senghor, a former president of Sénégal and a very well known poet in French. He was a French citizen and lived in a chateau in France with his French wife. His preference for French over the indigenous languages of Senegal was well known. What does this mean for national culture in Africa? We're not talking here about feelgood abstract ideas. I'm talking about cultural industries such as television, movies, theatre, entertainment in general and publishing. What is the language of the entertainment industry in French-speaking Africa? How can you have a national culture in a language that is foreign to the majority of the people? The simple answer is no. The thriving bollywood movie industry in India is not in English for that simple reason. What we see in Africa is the the same phenomenon we see everywhere. Cultural industries that cater to a broad market must use the language of the masses, whether that is an indigenous language or an indigenous variety of the foreign language. This disconnect, or a kind of cultural dissonance, between official language and national culture is really peculiar to Africa. I may be wrong, but I can't think of similar situations elsewhere. Just the very title of this thread says it all. Yes, French is important about Africa, but what about the African languages? Why do we never hear about them? To sum up, I'm not suggesting French should be replaced by an indigenous language. It's there and is a great world language. On the other hand, I think room should be made for local languages with equal official status. Edit: Although I focused specifically on sub-saharan Africa, it is interesting to note that in North Africa that had a similar colonial experience with French, all the countries have made Arabic the official language. French retains an important role of course as an administrative language and a language of culture. This is exactly the sort of situation I would suggest for sub-saharan Africa. Edited by s_allard on 02 May 2010 at 4:44pm 3 persons have voted this message useful | |
| nordantill Triglot Newbie Sweden Joined 6825 days ago 16 posts - 54 votes Speaks: Swedish*, English, Mandarin Studies: Spanish, French | Message 21 of 21 04 May 2010 at 11:03am | IP Logged |
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S allard, I really appreciate your posts, I find them very insighful and thought-provoking. Having this kind of interesting exchange without any flaming or heated arguments is quite rare these days.
I 'd love to respond to what you've written but I'm afraid my rather hectic schedule prevents me from doing so right now. But hopefully I can get around to it within a few days Edited by nordantill on 04 May 2010 at 11:05am 1 person has voted this message useful |
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