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The politics of language: Republican values and Breton identity

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 July 2009

Hudson Meadwell
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Extract

Among other things, the revolutionary period in France is notorious for two practices: the development of a civil religion and a project of linguistic standardization. The substitution of republican for religious symbols, the creation of public space for republican worship, the hostility towards intermediary bodies, all of this sought to ground a more direct relationship between the citizen and the republic. At the same time, the new order sought to consolidate its control of the church. An oath of loyalty to the republic was required from priests, as part of a plan to make priests functionaries of the state. The protest evoked, and its association with counterrevolution, however, produced equivocation on the part of regimes until the Concordat, which acknowledged the place of Catholicism in French society, without providing official recognition as the state religion, and which sought to monitor the activity of the clergy.

Type
Regional Autonomy: Marginalization, Integration & Democracy
Information
European Journal of Sociology / Archives Européennes de Sociologie , Volume 31 , Issue 2 , December 1990 , pp. 263 - 283
Copyright
Copyright © Archives Européenes de Sociology 1990

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References

(1) See for example, Hunt, Lynn, Politics, Culture and Class in the French Revolution (Berkeley/Los Angeles, University of California Press, 1984)Google Scholar; Agulhon, Maurice, Marianne au combat : l'imagerie et la symbolique républicaines de 1789 à 1880 (Paris, Flammarion, 1979).Google Scholar

(2) See, among others, Claude Langlois and Timothy Tackett, À l'épreuve de la Révolution (1770–1830), pp. 215–289 in Lebrun, François (ed.), Histoire des Catholiques en France du XVe siècle à nos jours (Toulouse, Privat, 1980)Google Scholar; Tackett, Timothy, Religion, Revolution and Regional Culture in Eighteenth Century France: the Ecclesiastical Oath of 1791 (Princeton, N. J., Princeton University Press, 1986)CrossRefGoogle Scholar and McManners, John, The French Revolution and the Church (New York, Harper and Row, 1970).Google Scholar

(3) See Achard, Pierre, History and the politics of language in France: a review essay, History Workshop, IV (1980), 176–178Google Scholar; Higonnet, Patrice L.-R., The politics of linguistic terrorism and grammatical hegemony during the French Revolution, Social History, V (1980), 41–69.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

(4) Achard, loc. cit. p. 175; Lai-Tin, David D., Language games, Comparative Politics, XX (1988), 289–293.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

(5) The one exception of which I am aware is a master's thesis on the period in Finistère which uses departmental archives. See Jacob, Yann, Les conflits à propos de la langue bretonne dans le diocèse de Quimper et de Léon au début du XXe siècle (Brest, Université de Brest, 1981).Google Scholar

(6) See the discussion in Ford, Caroline, Religion and the politics of cultural charge in provincial France: the resistance of 1902 in Lower Brittany, Journal of Modern History, LXII (1990), 25–29Google Scholar. Her analysis is limited to the department of Finistère.

(7) Ogès, Louis, La vie politique en Basse-Bretagne sous la IIIe République, Le Télégramme de Brest, 08 4–13, 17–20, 1959.Google Scholar

(8) See ‘Concordat de 1801’, Dictionnaire de théologie catholique (Paris, Librairie Letouzey et Ané, 1938), III, pp. 743–779.Google Scholar

(9) The interpretation is consistent with the treatment of concordats as bilateral contracts in canonical law. Pious VII, in 1817, explicitly termed concordats ‘contrats’ and in 1892 Léon XIII termed them ‘pactes solennels et bilatéraux’. See ‘Concordats’, Dictionnaire de théologie catholique (Tables générales), I, p. 753.

(10) See the untitled and unattributed note dated October 16, 1903 Archives Nationales (AN) F19 6129.

(11) Larkin, Maurice J. M., Church and State After the Dreyfus Affair (London, MacMillan, 1974), p. 54.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

(12) I include this path but note this qualification. Under the Concordat, priests would have no incentive to make public their preference change, unless they were sure they would continue to receive a stipend.

(13) Préfet du Finistère au Ministère des Cultes, January 26, 1886, AN F19 5927.

(14) Évêché de Saint-Brieuc au Préfet des Côtes-du-Nord (copy), May 14, 1892, AN F19 5971.

(15) Préfet du Finistère au Ministère de l'Intérieur, November 21, 1879, AN F18 456; Also see Ministère de l'Intérieur au Préfet du Finistère, No. 2784, December 1, 1879, AN F18 456.

(16) For an excellent general analysis of linguistic policy and state formation, including a discussion of transaction costs, see David Laitin, op. cit.

(17) Rapport fait au nom de la commission chargée de procéder à une enquête sur l'élection de M. Gayraud, dans la troisième circonscription de Brest (Finistère). Annexe au procès-verbal de la séance du 24 mai, 1897. No. 2451. Chambre des députés, 61e session législative de 1897, p. 42

(18) Ibid. p. 44.

(19) Débats, Chambre des députés, Séance du ier janvier 1903. Reprinted in Bulletin de l'Union régionaliste bretonne 1903, p. 170.

(20) For a more detailed discussion, see Meadwell, Hudson, The Catholic Church and the Breton Language in the Third Republic, French History (forthcoming 1991) and IdGoogle Scholar. Two Theories of Ethnic Nationalism and Breton Independence in Interwar France, Ethnic Nationalism and the Cultural Division of Labour: Brittany in the interwar period (Montreal, McGill University, unpublished manuscript, 1991).Google Scholar

(21) Rapport fait au nom…, op. cit. p. 43.

(22) ‘Christian democracy’ is flowing in torrents here and the ‘democratic priests’ rule and govern. In the Brest countryside, from Quimper and Chateaulin, our influence has quite disappeared. The south of the department, Quimperlé, is not yet broached and de Mun and Guébriant [local nobles] happily still have a certain authority over the population of Saint-Pol [de Léon] and Morlaix, but it is too little to establish order in minds. The bishop, Mgr. Dubillaird, is seeing his clergy turn against him: his diocese is in a state of revolt.

Président du comité royaliste du Finistère [to the political office of the Due d'Orléans] February 14, 1902. AN F7 12431. See also Sous-préfet de Brest au Préfet du Finistère. December 2, 1899 ADF 1M 228.

(23) On the demoralizing consequences of the death of the Comte de Chambord amongst royalists in Brittany, see the prefects' responses to the circular of February 21, 1884 in AN F7 12431.

(24) Commissaire de Vannes, December, 1891, ADM IV 19. Schools operated by religious congregations in Finistère were often located in buildings owned by local nobles. préfet du Finistère au Ministère des Cultes, October 7, 1902; Préfet au Président du Conseil, August 11, 1902, AN F19 6079. The same is likely true for Côtes-du-Nord since there was an organization of proprietors of congregational establishments led by a noble (La Société civile des écoles libres) See Préfet des Côtes-du-Nord au Président du Conseil, August 27, 1901, AN F19 6077.

(25) préfet du Morbihan au Ministère des Cultes Novembers 5, 1885, AN F19 6080.

(26) préfet d'Ille-et-Vilaine au Ministère des Cultes, December 30, 1885, AN F19 5929.

(27) Préfet du Morbihan au Ministère des Cultes, November 5, 1885, AN F19 5943. Also see Préfet du Morbihan au Ministère des Cultes, February 23, 1886, AN F19 5943; Préfet du Morbihan, November 5, 1885, AN F19 6080.

(28) Préfet d'Ille-et-Vilaine au Ministère des Cultes, June 12, 1897, AN F19 5988. This comment is also revealing: ‘You will appreciate the delicacy of the task of republican administration in a country where it [the administration] has to maintain its right and dignity, to limit disrespect sometimes repressing fanaticism, avoiding however offending the traditional and inveterate feelings of the inhabitants’: Préfet du Finistère au Ministère des Cultes, June 17, 1888, AN F19 2564.

(29) Ministère de l'Intérieur au Ministère des Cultes, April 14, 1898, AN F19 5943; See also Préfet d'Ille-et-Vilaine au Ministère des Cultes, January 6, 1886, AN F19 5829; Ministère des Cultes au Ministère de l'Intérieur, October 30, 1897, AN F19 5988; Guéguén (Finistère deputy) au Ministère des Cultes, December 15, 1889, AN F19 5979; Sous-préfet de Redon au Préfet d'Ille-et-Vilaine, November 19, 1902, ADIV IV 507.

(30) See for example, Préfet du Finistère au Ministère des Cultes, October 17, 1902. Dossier Arhan AN F19 3004.

(31) Préfet au Ministère des Cultes, October 24, 1886, AN F19 5927.

(32) See Dansette, Adrien, Histoire religieuse de la France contemporaine, revised and corrected edition (Paris, Flammarion, 1965), pp. 569–579.Google Scholar

(33) For an excellent analysis of the resistance in Finistère, see Ford, Religion and the politics of cultural change, loc. cit.

(34) Préfet du Morbihan au Ministère de l'Intérieur et des Cultes, August 1, 1902, AN F19 6084.

(35) Telegram, Préfet des Côtes-du-Nord au Ministère de l'Intérieur et des Cultes, August 4, 1902, AN F19 6077.

(36) The evidence on Finistère is taken from Elgoet's discussion. See Elgoet, Louis, Saint-Méen, vie et déclin d'une civilisation paroissiale dans le Bas-Léon (Paris, éditions Anthropos, 1981), pp. 292–303.Google Scholar

(37) For the circulars, or responses to the circulars, see ADM IV 19; ADCN V429–V432.

(38) Préfet du Finistère au Président du Conseil, November 5, 1902. Also see Préfet au Président du Conseil, October 13, 1902, AN F19 5503.

(39) Sous-préfet de Lannion au Préfet, December 9, 1890, ADCN V431.

(40) Ibid.

(41) Sous-préfet de Pontivy (Morbihan) September 17, 1903, ADM IV 19.

(42) Sous-préfet de Guingamp au Préfet, March 19, 1896, ADCV V430.

(43) Sous-préfet de Lannion au Préfet des Côtes-du-Nord, December 9, 1890, ADCN V431; Sous-préfet de Pontivy au Préfet, September 17, 1903, ADM IV 19.

(44) Hémon, Louis, Chambre des députés, Séance of 01 3, 1903.Google Scholar

(45) Telegram (copy) No. 17810, Ministère de l'Intérieur au Préfet du Morbihan, December 30, 1902. AN F19 5503.

(46) Telegram (copy) No. 2010, January 8, 1903, AN F19 5503.

(47) Telegram (copy), M. Dumay au Préfet du Morbihan, December 27, 1902 and Préfet du Morbihan au Ministère des Cultes, December 29, 1902, AN F19 5503.

(48) Sous-préfet de Lannion au Préfet des Côtes-du-Nord, January 7, 1903, AN F19 5503.

(49) Préfet des Côtes-du-Nord au Ministère des Cultes, June 27, 1904, AN F19 5503.

(50) Ministère des Cultes au Préfet des Côtes-du-Nord, July 7, 1904, AN F19 5503.

(51) Telegram (decoded), Préfet au Ministère de l'Intérieur et des Cultes No. 384, March 27, 1903, AN F19 5503.

(52) Préfet au Ministère de l'Intérieur et des Cultes, September 24, 1003, AN F19 5503.

(53) Préfet au Ministère des Cultes, December 31, 1903, AN F19 5503.

(54) Sous-préfet de Chateaulin, March 7, 1904, ADF IV 62.

(55) See for example, Ministère des Cultes au Préfet des Côtes-du-Nord, February 18, 1905, AN F19 5503.

(56) Ministère des Cultes au Préfet du Finistère, July 6, 1904, ADF IV 62.

(57) Préfet au Ministère de l'Intérieur, December 12, 1902, AN F19 5503; Sous-préfet de Quimperlé au Préfet, March 10, 1904, ADF IV 62.

(58) Sous-préfet de Morlaix au Préfet, June 17, 1903, ADF IV 61.

(59) Ibid.; Préfet au Ministère de l'Intérieur, March 24, 1904, AN F19 5503; Sous-préfet de Chateaulin au Préfet, March 7, 1904, ADF IV 62; Préfet au Ministère de l'Intérieur, July 2, 1903, AN F19 5503. The breakdown by arrondissement of the suspended priests in Finistère is: Chateaulin: 14; Brest: 26; Morlaix: 15; Quimper: 20; Quimperlé: 11. (Two priests could not be placed).

(60) See the Lettre circulaire de Monseigneur l'Évêque de Quimper et de Léon au clergé de son diocèse au sujet de l'Association de bienfaisance en faveur du clergé du diocèse, July 26, 1903, La Semaine religieuse de Quimper et de Léon.

(61) For this argument by the bishop, see the interview reported in La Dépêche de Brest, November 10, 1903.

(62) Letter from the bishop to Le Figaro, August 26, 1904. Clipped in ADF IV 58.

(63) Président du Conseil et Ministère de l'Intérieur et des Cultes (Combes) à l'Évêque de Quimper, August 27, 1903, ADF IV 42.

(64) In implementing the policy on language, especially in picking out priests to be disciplined, the Minister of Religion relied heavily on the reports of prefects who, in turn, used sub-prefects and local police as sources of information. This pattern of monitoring and implementation tended to bypass local mayors. Recall that implementation had initially begun with monitoring by mayors of Breton usage in religious teaching. There is evidence which suggests that some mayors refused to cooperate. See L'interdiction du breton, Dépêche de Brest, November 20 and 21, 1902; Chronique régionale, L'Arvor, November 12, 1902; L'interdiction du breton, Le Nouvelliste de Bretagne, October 28, 1902; clipped and filed in Fonds Hémon File: Langue bretonne 18J 7 ADF; Bulletin de l'Union régionaliste bretonne (1903), pp. 90, 96, 97; Protestation des maires de onze communes composant le canton de Plabennec, October 26, 1902, ADF IV 57.

(65) Ministère de l'Intérieur et des Cultes à l'Évêque de Vannes (Morbihan), January 14, 1903, ADM IV 19.

(66) Président du Conseil au Préfet du Finistère, No. 2730 (draft), January 5, 1904, AN F19 2564.

(67) See Lettre circulaire de Monseigneur l'Évêque de Vannes au clergé de son diocèse, No. 19, December 1900. The circular and its moderation was noted by the prefect since the bishop's support greatly facilitated his task of policing and implementation. Préfet du Morbihan au Président du Conseil, December 22, 1900, AN F19 2593

(68) Évêché de Vannes au Ministère des Cultes, August 28, 1902, AN F19 2593; Préfet du Morbihan au Ministère des Cultes, No. 1412, January 8, 1903, AN F19 5503.

(69) Préfet du Morbihan au Ministère des Cultes, March 3, 1903, AN F19 5503.