Language and Nation: The Concept of Linguistic Identity in the History of English

The concept of linguistic nationalism is first recorded for England in the 16th century, when the dominance of English had to be re-established in fields like the law, science and administration. In the centuries that followed, statements underlining the link between national language and nation are few — even on the Celtic fringe. It was the American Revolution which gave birth to a new centre of anglophones proud of their independent standards; a similar development but with increasingly weaker results has affected Australia, New Zealand, Canada and South Africa. Second-language countries like India are trailing even further behind, not to mention the problems of creole communities like those in the Caribbean, West Africa or the Southwest Pacific. My paper looks at these communities for evidence of a correlation between linguistic and political independence, standardization and prestige associated with use of the vernacular, and discusses problems connected with the development of alternatives like the standardization of an indigenous language to serve as a badge of national prestige, and as an expression of democratic intentions.