Belgium's Linguistic Barrière

St. Pieters Leeuw, 9 Dec 2006 / Kyoto, 6 Jan 2007

(Here it goes again, an Asian attempt to exoticize a Europe that isn't as rational as we used to think she is)


"Als we alles moeilijk kunnen maken, waarom moet het eenvoudig zijn?" ("If everything can be made difficult, why should we make it simple?"), laments a Belgian when he was asked how Belgium is managing her bilingual situation.

BELGIUM'S BILINGUAL SOLUTION (& PROBLEMS )

Belgium has indeed complex ways in handling her bilingual (or trilingual - if the German-speaking minorities in the southeast are counted in) mess. Once a unitary state, Belgium has been federated since 1972 into two separate states to accommodate the growing militancy and identity resurrection of her Dutch-speaking Flemish majority. The division has been mainly linguistic.

The federal division of Belgium (België/Belgique), reflecting the linguistic division of Dutch-speaking Vlaanderen state and French-speaking Wallonie

Vlaanderen State in the North has been traditionally a Dutch-speaking area, the homeland of the Vlaamingen (Flemish people) continuous to the Brabant and Limburg provinces of southern Netherlands - while French has been traditionally spoken in Wallonie State in the south adjacent to the French borders. Brussel/Bruxelles is officially bilingual, although a majority of 'Brusselaars' are Francophone.

The linguistic divide: Flemish Brabant and Wallon Brabant

Bilingual Brussel: roadsigns with both Dutch and French versions of placenames

Flemish assertiveness of their Dutch-speaking heritage may have been a reaction against the historical domination of French language among the Belgian ruling elites around Brussel/Bruxelles, which is located within the heartland of Vlaanderen. The solidification of Flemish identity may have reached a turning point after World War II - when Vlaanderen was transformed into the wealthy industrial growth center of the nation - while the traditional coal industries located in Wallonie nosedived into decline. The shift of economic power to Vlaanderen, needless to say, called for the reconfiguration of political power - and along with these shifts, the domination of French language itself was being contested. The language issue became the main battleground for these political tug-of-wars.

LANGUAGE MILITANCY ?

One example might be the contestation over the national education system, which as a result of political contestations, was later decentralized. Flemish students and politicians quickly seized momentum, during the general 1968 student discontentment throughout Europe - to overturn the domination of French language in the higher education system. The French-languaged academic establishment in Leuven (Louvain), became a primary target. By 1972 their actions succeeded in forcing a split of the renowned Catholic University of Louvain, turning the main University into a Dutch-speaking institution while forcing the French-speaking constituency to establish a separate campus.

Echoes of 1968 anarchism in old Leuven/Louvain: "Don't Vote, Think for Yourself"

The linguistic border between Vlaanderen and Wallonie is perhaps the most extreme 'cultural' partition that exist in western Europe. While it is easy to observe linguistic gradations, for example, along the German - Dutch or German - Danish borders, the linguistic border between the Anglo-Saxon speaking north and the southern Francophone world is clearly defined in Belgium. No trace of Dutch language can be found, for example, only 10 meters within Wallonie State and vice versa (Brussel/Bruxelles being the exception) - and this also includes the willingness of people to communicate.

No trace of Dutch language 10 meters within Wallonie, the northernmost frontier of the Francophone world (Senegal being perhaps its southernmost border)

As a general rule, Wallons can't speak Dutch, while the Flemish will never talk in French to Wallons (despite the Flemish being generally able to speak French as a second language). The militancy of Dutch-language is even institutionalized in many Municipal Offices throughout Vlaanderen, to levels where public servants won't even consider communicating in French to fellow Wallon citizens.

St. Pieter's Leeuw: A rustic small town, but linguistically militant

The above text reads (photo taken at the St. Pieters Leeuw Municipal office):
"St. Pieters Leeuw is a Dutch-speaking Municipality. It is compulsory by law (article 12 K.B. 18.07.1966) for all personnel to exclusively use Dutch in matters of communication."

I asked one public servant at the municipal office whether this in fact implied an official ban on the use of French language. Without bothering to be politically correct, she replied, "You see, these are official measures for us to defend our Flemish heritage." I was surprised.

This all, however, does not imply that Belgian identities are not fluid. The cultural distinction between Wallons and Flemish is something that can't be easily categorized as an 'ethnic' denominator. I interviewed a mixed Wallon-Flemish family - and while the father is a Wallon, the daughters consider themselves as Flemish mostly due to their schooling in a Dutch-speaking education system in Vlaanderen. Even the difference of having French-sounding or Dutch-sounding names may not reflect one's actual Wallon or Flemish identity.

The most visible linguistic battleground throughout Belgium is the annoying inconsistency of road signs. Riding from north to south (from Vlaanderen to Wallonie), foreign car drivers may first find themselves familiarized with the Dutch versions of many Belgian cities. For example, Wallon cities with their French names (i.e. Liege, Namur or Mons) may show up in their Dutch versions (Luik, Namen, Bergen) on signboards throughout Vlaanderen. Many drivers (e.g. Britons) find themselves completely lost once they cross into Wallonie where the Dutch names are suddenly replaced by their French versions. Conversely, this also counts for those driving from south to north., e.g. French names for Flemish cities (Anvers, Bruges or Hal) substituting their original Dutch names (Antwerpen, Brugge, Halle).

And of course, these signboards are often vandalized by rivaling language extremists.

Wallon politicalinguistic correctness: Flemish Halle changed into it's 'correct' French name, only 20 meters before the linguistic border

Of course, all Belgians remain united when it comes to football, travelling abroad or when collectively rejecting the term 'French Fries' (which, as this Flemish website www.belgianfries.com claims and defends, is of Wallonian Belgian origin)..

DL / Hamburg Dec 2006

Belgian Nationalism: nevermind the language mess, it's in the Frites !!