ABSTRACT
However, some aspects of Corsican identity are not only clear but strongly asserted. The deliberate use and encouragement to develop the language has been one result of this pride. Demand for more broadcasting time, publications, education using the language, have all been loud and probably can never be satisfied by any mere increase in the quantity of print or time. There has been a proliferation in studies of the culture, Corsican architecture, agriculture, husbandry, ploughing and baking. Traditions and customs have been rescued and examined in a depth and with an enthusiasm not seen since the earliest years of a remarkable local publication, the Bulletin de Ia Societe des Sciences historiques et naturelles de Ia Corse which first appeared in 1881. Moreover a large diaspora has been self-consciously promoting attachment to their island. Corsican associations of all kinds thrive in the cities of mainland France, the 'continent' as they call it. The strength of this affection on the part of Corsicans living, working or studying away from the region, has turned a practical necessity into an exile.1 At a cultural and social level, the identity of Corsicans is self-evident. This is not the case at a political level where the Corsican national identity remains obscure.
