The Quebec Minister for the French Language invites us to a great national mobilization to “slow down, stop and reverse the decline of the French language”. That’s excellent news. But…
But the success or failure of this mobilization will depend on the role given to French: will it be only a means of communication or also the vehicle of a culture? The question is not insignificant, it is one of the great points of friction between the Canadian and Quebec conceptions of linguistic action. For a Canada that defines itself as postnational1language and culture are two distinct things, whereas for Quebec, a nation, the two are inextricably linked.
A brief reminder of the evolution of French vitality indicators.
Mother tongue: hindsight. First official language spoken: hindsight. Language spoken at work, the language of bread, as Godin would say: hindsight. Predominant language spoken at home: decline. Ability to carry on a conversation in French: (slight) setback. English as first official language spoken: on the rise. Bilingualism among Anglo-Quebecers: decline. French in Canada: spectacular decline2.
People who remain positive in such a context rely on a single statistic, but an important statistic: the ability to carry on a conversation in French. Although also declining, this indicator remains very high, affecting 93.7% of Quebecers.
The indicator is disputed: what does “carrying on a conversation” really mean? Moreover, being able to speak French does not necessarily imply that one does. Finally, and the question arises, what culture conveys this use of French?
Indeed, it is now that we ask ourselves this: if a Japanese speaks Greek, does that make him a Greek?
So let’s talk about culture.
The Minister for the French Language has included the Minister for Culture and the Minister for Education in his working group on the promotion of French. Wise decision: they are the ones who really hold our linguistic destiny in their hands.
Indeed, the greatest threat hanging over French is not English per se, it is American culture. It is she who makes English so attractive.
Our children listen to American music, American youtubers, American movies, American series, American influencers, etc. : it is not English as the language of communication that anglicizes them, it is English as the language of culture. The buzzwords, the movie quotes, the stars they love come from this culture.
The response to the decline of French therefore passes first and foremost through the promotion of Quebec culture, at home, at work, at school.
let’s talk school
The children are constantly exposed to American culture and they are bilingual like never before. Schools, child care services and day care centers should therefore not serve them the same sauce, but offer them something unique: our culture. They do it already? Oh no! End-of-year shows in English abound, schoolyards where music is played in English are, in my humble opinion, the norm, translated American films are reward activities in elementary school, and so on. Instead of giving children and teenagers what attracts them, the school must make them love what they need, a culture specific to them.
The end-of-year shows, in all schools, should only include songs in French (with some exceptions, in particular for songs learned in English classes which should also be Quebecois). The music that young people listen to during recess, at daycare, during festive activities, in short, in the school environment, should only be in French. Same principle for TV shows and movies: only Quebec products.
To dance to Rihanna is to do what the whole planet does, to dance to Roxane Bruneau is to contribute to building an original nation, it is to contribute to promoting the diversity of cultures.
At the end of a school career, our children should know the cult lines of Quebec cinema (“There’s no place, nowhere, for the Ovide Plouffes of the whole world”, “La guerre, la guerre, c’est not a reason to get hurt!”), they should know famous elements of political speeches (“…in honor and enthusiasm”), they should want to dance to the tunes of Klô Pelgag, slam Marjo Beauchamp, write like Kim Thúy, sing Leonard Cohen, in short, they should have a common culture, a culture of which they are proud, a culture carried by a language of which they know the power and the beauty.
Mastering several languages is a great way to discover the cultures of the world, the Greek-speaking Japanese will have a better trip than his unilingual compatriot.
But the members of the same nation, proud of themselves, and who sing, dance, create, debate together, offer the world one more culture, an original culture which enriches the diversity of the world, a culture which, ultimately , will ensure the development of the language that carries it.