Table of Contents
Acknowledgements ix
Prologue: Two Cultural Wars in 50 Years xi
1 Circumnavigating a Term: 'Language Conflict' and Related Concepts 1
Language Contact and Domination 1
Linguistic Consequences of Colonialism: Ireland, a Case Study 6
Language Planning and Conflict 10
Resistance and Peace Sociolinguistics 16
2 Frenchification: Annihilating Indigenous Languages 21
Pre-Colonial Period 22
Local Languages and Cultures under Siege 25
'Instruct to Conquer' 31
Language Superiority 35
Rejection of Cultural Subordination 41
The Legacy 47
3 Arabization: At War with Diversity 51
Cautious Implementation 52
Politicizing Language 57
Ever More Radical Measures 59
Oppositional Identities 66
Planned and Unplanned Developments 72
The Anachronism of Arabization: Multiple Voices and Hybridity 75
Conclusion 86
4 Geopolitics and Language Rivalry: French versus English 87
Empires and Languages in Competition 88
Language without a Political Past 90
Top-down Intervention: Unsuccessful Penetration of English 93
Maintenance of French, Uncertain Future 98
Recycling Old Colonial Ideologies 106
The Possibility of Alternative Voices 114
Future Prospects 119
Conclusion 123
5 Writers and Language as a Battlefield: 'Authenticity' versus 'Hybridity' 126
Colonials Write Back 127
Some Effects of Colonial Bilingualism 131
Hybridity and Long-Term Prospects 135
'Silence Will Slowly Become His Empire' 139
The Triumph of Unanism and 'Authenticity' 142
Creativity and Resistance 146
Writing in Troubled Times 151
Conclusion 155
Epilogue: The Language Question As a 'Lightning Rod' 157
Language and Politics Wedded in an Indissoluble Union 158
Cultural Marginalization Breeds Radicalism 160
Language and Identity as Distractors 163
What Can We Do? 167
References 171
Index 186
