Dutch: One language divided by two countries

Abstract

This is the text of the first Pieter Geyl Memorial Lecture delivered at University College London on 13 October 2004. The theme of the lecture was the role of language as a nation building element in general and in the Netherlands in particular. After an overview of what part language played prior to the 19th century, I concentrate on two instances where language planning and policy have played an extremely important part. One is of a mainly ideological nature, viz. the ‘General Dutch Conferences on Language and Literature’. The other one is very practical, viz. the way Flemish city administrations reacted to laws and regulations on official language usage through three different political regimes. Finally, as to ‘language as a nation or state building element’, I come to the conclusion that, quite ironically, one of the few countries where presently language is used as a nation-building notion is Belgium. Present-day Belgium is a federal country in which all decisive administrative borders are determined by language. It has become a firmly mono-lingualized country, the state borders of which enclose its various nations.