%0 Journal Article
%T Autochthonous Linguistic Minorities in the Italian Alps:
%A Ernst Steinicke
%A Judith Walder
%A Roland L£¿ffler
%A Michael Beismann
%J Revue de G¨¦ographie Alpine
%D 2011
%I Association pour la Diffusion de la Recherche Alpine
%R 10.4000/rga.1454
%X More than any other area in Western Europe, the Alps, especially the Italian Alps, are home to great ethno-cultural diversity: there, no less than seven autochthonous linguistic minorities coexist side by side with the respective official majority. Now being considered an important cultural heritage by the state as well as by the regions, new legislation offers protection to all ¡®linguistic-historic minorities¡¯ in Italy. Our study shows, however, that it is quite difficult to maintain such groups, since it is largely unknown where exactly the minority areas are situated. Based on that, local actor groups in various communities take advantage of this lack of knowledge and declare themselves minority territories although they show no linguistic varieties. An important objective of this project is therefore to present a cartographic representation of this linguistic diversity. Subsequently, the contribution discusses case studies of distinct ethno-linguistic self-awareness. Even though with Law No. 482 a first important step was taken to preserve the linguistic minorities, their progressive decline by territorial and numerical criteria cannot be denied. Today, besides unfavorable bio-demographic factors and ¡°diffuse ethnicity,¡± other causes are current demographic processes. In this framework the amenity migrants, those new immigrants who have discovered the mountains as a new, desirable settlement space, play a decisive role by reinforcing the assimilation process. Les Alpes, plus pr¨¦cis¨¦ment les Alpes italiennes, plus que toute autre r¨¦gion d'Europe Occidentale, sont un lieu de grande diversit¨¦ ethnoculturelle : pas moins de sept minorit¨¦s linguistiques autochtones y coexistent, c te ¨¤ c te avec la majorit¨¦ officielle correspondante. Maintenant consid¨¦r¨¦es comme un h¨¦ritage culturel important par les ¨¦tats ainsi que par les r¨¦gions, une nouvelle l¨¦gislation offre une protection ¨¤ toutes les   minorit¨¦s linguistiques historiques   en Italie. Notre ¨¦tude montre, cependant, qu'il est tr¨¨s difficile de maintenir de tels groupes, car on ne sait pas vraiment o¨´ se situent exactement les zones de ces minorit¨¦s. Partant de l¨¤, des groupes d'acteurs locaux, dans de nombreuses communaut¨¦s, tirent partie de ce manque de connaissance et se d¨¦clarent territoires de minorit¨¦ bien qu'ils ne pr¨¦sentent aucune variante linguistique. Un des objectifs importants de ce projet est, donc, d'¨¦tablir une repr¨¦sentation cartographique de cette diversit¨¦ linguistique. Ce document, par cons¨¦quent, traite d'¨¦tudes de cas de conscience ethnolinguistique distincte. M¨ºme si la Loi n¡ã
%K minorities
%K ethnic identity
%K Italian Alps
%K demographic change
%K amenity migration
%K minorit¨¦s
%K identit¨¦ ethnique
%K Alpes italiennes
%K changement d¨¦mographique
%K migration d'agr¨¦ment
%U http://rga.revues.org/1454