Corsican (corsu or lingua corsa) is an Italo-Dalmatian Romance language spoken and written on the islands of Corsica (France) and northern Sardinia (Italy). Corsican was long the vernacular language alongside Italian, official language in Corsica until 1859: afterwards Italian was replaced by French, owing to the acquisition of the island by France from Genoa in 1768. Over the next two centuries, the use of French grew to the extent that, by the Liberation in 1945, all islanders had a working knowledge of French. The twentieth century saw a wholesale language shift, with islanders changing their language practices to the extent that there were no monolingual Corsican speakers left by the 1960s. By 1990, an estimated 50% of islanders had some degree of proficiency in Corsican, and a small minority, perhaps 10%, used Corsican as a first language.
Very interesting - and I can see why people in Flanders are so enthusiastic about this group because they share a common bond through being/having been a minority language.
I Muvrini is also very socially and environmentally active, supporting through their songs and activism projects in nonviolence, ecology, and minority culture and language preservation, not just in Corsica but all over the world. This adds an extra dimension to the concert as many of their lyrics are translated and projected on the screen behind the musicians so you can really understand the causes they support.
Many of the songs were lovely and the singing was impressive, but on the whole it was a bit too "Enya" for me to become a huge fan like so many of the people around me. However, I'm very glad I went and I really enjoyed seeing all the enthusiasm!
I see what you mean about "Enya"; I am, however, fascinated with their instruments. There's a weird guitar-looking thing I'd love to hear up close.
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