French, English or Kanak Languages? Can Traditional Languages and Cultures Be Sustained in New Caledonia?
Article Sidebar
Main Article Content
Abstract
New Caledonia has an unusual linguistic dynamic in comparison to other French overseas territories. While New Caledonia was established as a penal colony in 1853, the other French islands were settled as plantation colonies in the 17th and 18th centuries. In these areas, French Creole is usually the lingua franca and has lower status than French. In New Caledonia, although French has official status and dominates in state institutions, it is the native language of only half of the population. There are 28 indigenous languages and a French Creole, Tayo, spoken mostly in the rural areas.
The 2014 census population revealed a multicultural New Caledonian population, it did not however record the rate of multilingualism in speakers. The present study conducted in two stages addresses a gap in the research by focussing on patterns of language use and social attitudes of New Caledonians towards their own multilingualism. The same methodology was used to collect data in both stages of the research so that a comparative analysis could be carried out between urban and rural New Caledonia. This paper focuses on social perceptions of ancestral languages and cultures as well as challenges to their preservation in multilingual spaces, as New Caledonia transitions towards the thorny question of independence in a referendum, expected to be held between 2016 and 2018.
Preliminary results from the study show a difference in the language habits between older and younger generations on New Caledonians of Melanesian descent. Although French is perceived as the lingua franca by all, English is more valued than ancestral Melanesian languages by the younger generations. In terms of cultural representations and links with family history, there seems to be a discrepancy between the younger and the older generations. Whilst the older generations perceive the Centre Culturel Tjibaou as a traditional space for Melanesian art and culture their younger counterparts on the contrary view it as a place associated with contemporary art and music performances.
Article Details
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
For submissions from 31st March 2014 onwards, authors who submit articles to this journal for publication agree to the following terms:
a) Retaining Copyright and Granting Rights:
Authors retain copyright and grant the journal the right of first publication. The work is simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License, allowing others to share and adapt the work. Acknowledgment of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal is required.
b) Non-Exclusive Distribution:
Authors may enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., posting to an institutional repository or publishing in a book). Acknowledgment of its initial publication in this journal is required.
c) Online Posting and Citation Advantage:
Authors are encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process. This may lead to productive exchanges and earlier and greater citation of the published work (See The Open Access Citation Advantage Service). If authors include the work in an institutional repository or on their website, they must acknowledge the UTS ePRESS publication with relevant details.
d) Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) License Awareness:
Authors should note that the CC-BY License permits readers to share (copy and redistribute) and adapt (remix, transform, build upon) the work for any purpose, including commercial use. Proper credit, a link to the license, and indication of any changes made must be provided. The manner of doing so must not suggest endorsement by you or your publisher.
For Volume 10 No 2 (2013) and earlier, the following copyright applied:
Authors submitting a paper to UTSePress publications agree to assign a limited license to UTSePress if and when the manuscript is accepted for publication. This license allows UTSePress to publish the manuscript in a specific issue.
Articles published by UTSePress are protected by copyright, with rights retained by the authors, who assert their moral rights. Authors control translation and reproduction rights to their works published by UTSePress. All rights are reserved worldwide by UTSePress, and downloads of specific portions are permitted for personal use only, not commercial use or resale.
For reprint or usage permissions, please direct inquiries to UTSePress via the journal's main editor, Dr. Nicholas Manganas at [portal.scholarly.journal@gmail.com]. Reprint permission requires acknowledgment of both UTSePress and PORTAL in the format advised by the journal editor.