In our travels we have always been interested in learning about the ways language has influenced the history of a region or a country. And while separatist movements are often caused by economic inequities, power struggles, religion, etc. they can also be fueled by language differences – even if the language differences don't seem to be significant.
The Ukraine – Russia conflict may be a current example. The peaceful separation of Sweden and Norway (see also our blog Language Politics…) could have provided a better model.
While the Quebec separatist efforts in Canada may have slowed down, Catalonia's push for separation from Spain is gaining steam. And although Corsica does not have overt ambitions to separate from France there is no love lost between the island and the main land.
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Therefore, the recent article in the New York Times Italy’s Historic Multicultural Compromise, gives reason for hope. When I visited South Tyrol in 1965 as part a graduating class trip, my class mates and I experienced first hand the friction between the German and Italian speaking population (which, at that time, still involved violence and bombings). Let's also hope that the lessons learned in South Tyrol can be shared with and applied in other language regions.
(The article also reminded me of the little known language “Ladin” which has many similarities to the 4th Swiss language, “Romansch” - certainly a topic for a future blog.)
