Droit et Cultures (Sep 2016)
Protection des minorités ou promotion du plurilinguisme ?
Abstract
All cities of the world are multilingual, individual and social multilingualism being the norm rather the exception. However, cities with an officially multilingual status are scarce. In this contribution, we concentrate on two bilingual cities (French and German) in Switzerland, Biel/Bienne and Fribourg/Freiburg. We focus on the institutional level, i.e. on bilingualism in local politics, public administration, and education, and address the following questions: How did official bilingualism develop? How is it legislated and implemented? How far do official and private discourses of bilingualism map? To what extent does the linguistic landscape mirror demography, discourse and legislation? Methods combine the analysis of official and private documents, of municipal and commercial signage, and ethnographic analysis. The comparative perspective shows that although some general conclusions can be drawn, each bilingual city represents a unique linguistic niche shaped by history, culture and individuals.
