Revisiting the sociolinguistics of 'Occitan': a presentation

The sociolinguistic situation of the language varieties currently spoken in the southern regions of France, from Provence to Gascony & from Languedoc to Auvergnat, is reviewed in light of increasing criticism of the Occitanist stance that dominated political, sociological, & linguistic discourse on this subject during the 1970s & 1980s. The notion of an Occitan language is revealed to be largely mythical, the product of a tiny movement modeling itself on Catalan nationalism & Catalanist definitions of diglossia, national affirmation, language norms, & language policy; the result is an artificial standard language based on modern & medieval Languedoc varieties & illegible & even unrecognizable to the vast majority of its supposed speakers, who are characterized as pathological by Occitanists. Political maneuvers, some of them enjoying a measure of success at the national level, are responsible for the acceptance of "Occitan" as a linguistic entity in academic & administrative circles. 3 Figures, 1 Appendix, 89 References. J. Hitchcock