The City of Rennes has been developing a policy for several years to support Breton, and more recently Gallo. Since the 1980s, bilingual French-Breton courses have emerged in public schools. In 2022, level 2 of the Ya charter of Ar Brezhoneg was signed with the Public Office of the Breton Language.
For the gallo “we also have the ambition to sign a charter; we are working for this with the gallo institute”, indicates Montserrat Casacuberta-Palmada, advisor responsible for language policies. Will there be city entrance signs in Gallo in the future? Gallo will be more visible in public spaces, without being generalized in signage.
“Rich in the diversity of its inhabitants”
More generally, Rennes wants to encourage multilingualism, by recognizing the equal dignity of cultures and languages. The Breton capital “is rich in the diversity of its inhabitants and the students it welcomes”. Many of them are international students from all over the world.
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A sociologist will work on the subject to find out how this multilingualism is present in Rennes. “Encouraging languages is not encouraging communitarianism, souligne Montserrat Casacuberta-Palmada. French remains the language of the Republic, the language of cohesion. Other languages bring richness. »
Geneviève Letourneux, elected delegate for women’s rights, welcomes the approach. “A language is not just a means of communication, it carries an intangible heritage, a culture. It is never isolated or fixed. Certain linguistic practices are downplayed, while others are valued”, she declares, warning against discrimination. Rennes au Pluriel, the Language Festival, free training on multilingualism: so many initiatives for “recognize, with lucidity and enthusiasm, the cultural plurality that characterizes our society”.
