11.4 Regions and the centralised state — Epoché
What you will be able to do Describe the map of France: the regions, the départements , overseas France, and the weight of Paris. Understand the French tradition of a centralised state, its history, and the decentralisation of the last forty years. Recognise the opposition between Paris and la province , and what the word says about French attitudes. Know the regional languages of France and their place in law and in daily life. Sentences from this lesson, before the explanation. Read the French aloud; all of them come back below. French English Je vis en zone rurale. [1] I live in a rural area. Il habite dans une petite ville de province. [2] He lives in a small, provincial town. Il habite une grande ville dans le sud de l'Espagne. [3] He lives in a big city in the south of Spain. Nous allons dans le sud de la France pour nous changer les idées. [4] We go to the South of France for a change of air. Ne va pas dans cette zone. [5] Don't go into that area. J'ai toujours voulu apprendre le breton. [6] I've always wanted to learn Breton. Prerequisites : 11.3 — this lesson follows 11.3 Background . It builds on the local government words of 5.15 Vocabulary , la commune , le département , la région , le préfet , and on the regions you visited in the readings, from Normandy in 7.19 Reading to the mining north in 7.21 Reading . One capital, one centre France has long been one of the most centralised countries in Europe. The kings built their power by drawing the nobility to Versailles; the Revolution abolished the old provinces and drew the départements , all equal, all run from Paris; Napoleon placed a prefect at the head of each in 1800. The road network is measured from a point in front of Notre-Dame, le point zéro , and the high-speed railway lines leave Paris in a star, so that it is often quicker to travel between two regional cities through Paris than directly. The weight of the capital is still enormous. The Paris region, Île-de-France , has about eighteen per cent of the population and produces about thirty per cent of the national wealth. The government, Parliament, the great national companies, the main newspapers and television channels, the most prestigious schools of 11.5 Background : almost all are in Paris. The French call this centralising tradition jacobin , after the most centralising party of the Revolution. Paris and la province For a Parisian, everything outside Paris is la province , a word that can be neutral or slightly condescending: une petite ville de province suggests a quiet, perhaps dull town. People in the regions sometimes resent this, and many are proud of their region, its food, its accent and its history. The opposition runs through French literature, from Balzac's young men who come to conquer Paris, like Rastignac in 7.25 Reading , to the novels of provincial life of Flaubert. Regions and decentralisation Since the decentralisation laws of 1982, power has slowly moved from Paris to elected local bodies. The regions now have their own councils, responsible for transport, secondary schools and the economy. Since 2016 there are thirteen regions in mainland France, including Corsica, and five overseas: Guadeloupe, Martinique, French Guiana, Réunion and Mayotte, whose inhabitants are French citizens and vote in French elections. Regional identity is strongest in Brittany, Alsace, the Basque Country and Corsica, where a nationalist movement has long demanded more autonomy. Each region keeps its départements , numbered as you saw in 5.15 Vocabulary . Regional languages For centuries, many French people spoke another language at home: Breton in Brittany, Basque and Catalan near Spain, Occitan in the south, Alsatian in the east, Corsican in Corsica, Flemish near Belgium. A royal ordinance of 1539 made French the language of law, and in the nineteenth century the Republic's schools taught French to every child and often punished pupils who spoke their family language. Most regional languages are now spoken by few people, mostly older ones, though bilingual schools and festivals keep them alive. Since 2008 the Constitution states that regional languages belong to the heritage of France, but French remains the only language of the Republic, and France has never ratified the European charter that would give them official rights. Terms Eight words of the French map, each with a corpus example. Word Meaning Notes la province fr the provinces; everywhere outside Paris Gender / part of speech feminine noun How English differs Singular in French: en province . Il vit dans une petite ville de province. [7] He lives in a small, provincial town. la capitale fr capital city Gender / part of speech feminine noun How English differs In French news, often simply Paris. J'habite dans la capitale. [8] I live in the capital. rural fr rural Gender / part of speech adjective How English differs Masculine plural ruraux ; la France rurale . Je vis dans une zone rurale. [9] I live in a rural area. urbain fr urban Gender / part of speech adjective How English differs Also urbane in older French. Paco dessine des paysages urbains. [10] Paco draws cityscapes. le dialecte fr dialect Gender / part of speech masculine noun How English differs French also says le patois , sometimes with contempt. Ils parlaient en dialecte du Sud. [11] They were speaking in a Southern dialect. le breton fr Breton (the language) Gender / part of speech masculine noun How English differs The language takes a small letter; a person from Brittany is un Breton . Je veux apprendre le breton. [12] I want to learn Breton. la Corse fr Corsica Gender / part of speech feminine noun How English differs An island region with its own language and a special status. La Corse a des paysages très pittoresques. [13] Corsica has some very picturesque landscapes. la Bretagne fr Brittany Gender / part of speech feminine noun How English differs Not Britain, which is la Grande-Bretagne . Combien de temps souhaite-t-elle rester en Bretagn