The ''langue d'oc'' is a territorialized language, that is to say, spoken mainly on a territory whose boundaries can be described. This part attempts to describe the origins of the Occitanie concept, the different names that this territory has taken and the creation of the modern concept of Occitania.
A unique object of study: d'oc culture The speakers of the Occitan language do not use a single meaning of their language because Occitan is not a monolithic language with for example a single dictionary where each speaker finds exactly their vocabulary, but a juxtaposition of dialects. Also, many studies have focused on the differences between Provençal, Languedoc, etc. We must also remember
the many common features of the Occitan cultural space, which are generally considered partisans.
The consciousness of a common culture Robert Lafont develops this idea in the introduction of the "History and Anthology of Occitan Literature". The reference to troubadours is essential. This socio-linguistic argument is modulated according to the authors but it is accepted by all the current scholarship, including the authors who speak of "domain d'oc", since by definition, their study of the d'oc domain rests on the consciousness of the existence of a common culture.
Intercomprehension The different speakers of the language share many common traits (tonic accentuation, close vocabulary, frequent use of the subjunctive, etc.) that allow mutual understanding. For Occitanists, this intercomprehension means that Occitan is one language; for others, it means that these languages are very close but all agree that the speakers in this defined space understand each other.
Common social characteristics The social characteristics of Occitania are not eternal and intangible because factors of endogenous mutations and European influences, especially of Northern France, can blur these social peculiarities. The best studied example is that of
Roman Law which is better maintained in the Occitan
Early Middle Ages society than in Northern France thanks to the promulgations of
Visigoth and
Burgundians laws. From the mid-11th century, the teaching of the
Corpus Juris Civilis taken shortly after Bologna in the universities of Toulouse, Montpellier, Avignon, Perpignan... will promote a massive renaissance of Roman Law in Occitania. With regard to education:
Pierre Goubert and
Daniel Roche write, to explain the low literacy in Occitania in the 18th century, that there exists in these territories a confidence maintained in the old vulgar languages. The relations to education are today completely reversed between Northern and Southern France thanks to the anthropological imprint of the family strain. From a demographic point of view, the influence of the family was still felt in 2007 because of the small number of families with many children. In politics, many debates have also taken place around the expression
Red Southern coined by
Maurice Agulhon to find out if the "pays d'oc" was more "
republic" than the northern half of France.
Emmanuel Todd analyzing the regions that voted for
Jean-Luc Mélenchon, calling himself a "Republican" in the 2012 presidential elections, declares that "
what is obvious is his general inscription in the Occitan family[...] that loves vertical structures, the state or the church." Finally, for André Armengaud, these common social characteristics make it possible to write a historical synthesis. But since 1979, no other "History of Occitan" has been undertaken.
The appearance of the modern concept of Occitania in 1575 If the term Occitania appeared in French from the mid-16th century, then in 1732 in a collection of laws of the
ancien régime, it only becomes current at 19th century. Thus, the
duke of Angoulême conspired with a view to the establishment of a Kingdom of Occitania or of a Vice-Royalty of Occitania at the time of the Restoration. The term was popularized by the publications of
Raynouard and
Rochegude, and known in its contemporary sense by the English historian
Sharon Turner. It appeared in the
Treasury of Felibritge and in the statutes of
this organization in 1911. In the
Interwar period, a Felibritgan school, the
Escòla Occitana was created in 1919 in the Toulousean Languedoc. The
Institute of Occitan Studies was born in 1930. These initiatives (as well as others) remain closely linked, notably because of the dual membership of their main animators at
Felibritge. After the
Second World War, the creation of the
Institute of Occitan Studies was presided over by a resistant (at a time when the Felibritge like the SEO were tainted by lawsuits of collaboration), but above all its action in terms of linguistic reform, particularly its desire to adapt the classical norm to
Provençal, marked a break with a large fraction of the Felibritge
François Fontan created the first overtly Occitan nationalist party in 1959. In France, Occitania has been confronted with a problem of
recognition of Occitan since 1992; the French is the only "language of the Republic". In 1994, it was made compulsory in the public space (places of commerce and work, public transport, etc.) and in the administration (laws, regulations, documents, judgments, etc.). In 2015, with the prospect of creating a large region gathering "
Midi-Pyrénées" and "
Languedoc-Roussillon", the name "Occitanie" came at the head of an online survey organized by the regional press (23% of the 200,000 voting, in front of "Occitanie-Pays catalan" 20%). Note, however, a variable support rate depending on the geographical origin of the voters. As part of the territorial reform, a consultation on the name of the region, organized by the Regional Council
Languedoc-Roussillon-Midi-Pyrénées took place in spring 2016 to give a name to the new region regrouping
Midi-Pyrenees and
Languedoc-Roussillon. Occitanie came first (44.90% of the vote), with 91,598 voters. Second was Languedoc-Pyrenees with 17.81% of the votes, then Pyrenees-Mediterranean (15.31%), Occitanie-Catalan Country (12.15%) and finally Languedoc (10.01%). This new region was renamed
Occitanie (with the subtitle
Pyrenees-Mediterranean), according to the vote of the regional councillors on 24 June 2016, and after final validation by the
Government of France and
Conseil d'État.
Distinction between Occitania and Catalonia Despite the historic and political dependencies between the 10th and 13th centuries that eventually led to the creation of a common Occitan-Catalan cultural environment during Middle Ages, neither the
Principality of Catalonia nor the
Catalan Countries have ever been part of Occitania. On the contrary, from the 11th century the Catalan expansion towards the Occitan regions of
Languedoc and
Provence (through family ties of feudal nobility) gave rise to a long-term confrontation between the countal dynasties of
Barcelona and
Toulouse, but finally they had to ally against the
Cathar Crusade promoted by France and the
Papacy in the beginning of the 13th century. The great defeat resulting from the
Battle of Muret (1213) and the subsequent
Treaty of Corbeil (1258) ratified the loss of Catalan influence in Occitania and its gradual replacement by the French dynasty of the
House of Capet. Regarding to linguistic affinity and closeness, after some early Romance-language scholars considered them to be the same language, Catalan intellectuals (among them
Pompeu Fabra and
Joan Coromines) solemnly proclaimed in a 1934 manifesto that Catalan was a distinct language from Occitan, as established by the common consensus of current scientific linguistics. Moreover, the
Parliament of Catalonia passed in 2015 a law recognizing
Aran Valley's "national identity", understood as an "Occitan national reality" apart from the Catalan nation. ==Geography==