French or Corsican?

[brad]

Would Alizée consider herself more French, or Corsican? I understand that she is both .. but I see there have been some movements in Corsica for greater independence from France .. and they seem to have their own unique culture there .. and while French is the official language, they also speak a Corsican dialect similar to Italian.

If someone asked Alizee where she was from (like a foreigner) .. would she say France or Corsica? I am thinking she would say Corsica.

[NANAKI]

If someone asked Alizee where she was from (like a foreigner) .. would she say France or Corsica? I am thinking she would say Corsica.

I think the same thing she would probably consider herself more Corisican, but maybe whe would consider herself more of French nobody nows except for her I guess. :confused: :(

[neoteny]

hmmmmmmm...

[aFrenchie]

Would Alizée consider herself more French, or Corsican?Both certainly.

If someone asked Alizee where she was from (like a foreigner) .. would she say France or Corsica? I am thinking she would say Corsica.
To a French, she would probably answer "from Corsica" since the question would sound like "from which region of France". To a foreigner, definitely "from France", then she could add "from Corsica", depending on what she thinks the foreigner's interest or knowledge of France is. If the question is only about her nationality, she wouldn't even mention Corsica of course.

[riva2model64]

can Alizée speak French, Corsican, and English

3 languages wow

Alizée only lives in Paris right now because of Jeremy, but it is
evident from recent photos that she visits her home of Corsica
a lot

PS. so what you're saying aFrenchie is that France considers Corsica a baby
France and so does Alizée?

-edit-this is one good ice cream

[Topaz]

Alizée only lives in Paris right now because of Jeremy

The recording studio is in Paris.

:)

[brad]

PS. so what you're saying aFrenchie is that France considers Corsica a baby
France and so does Alizée?

Well .. I don't know if that is what he means.

I am from West Virginia, but if I was in France or somewhere and someone asked me where I am from .. I would say the United States. However, someone from Texas .. I bet they would say they were from Texas instead of the United States.

Most Texans feel more 'loyal' to being Texan as opposed to being American .. even though it is really the same thing. I was just curious if Corsica was in a similar situation.

If the question is only about her nationality, she wouldn't even mention Corsica of course.

This is the way I should have phrased it .. 'nationality' .. thanks aFrenchie

[O Rly]

I see there have been some movements in Corsica for greater independence from France .. and they seem to have their own unique culture there
Well, a lot of people that live in Corsica do not want to be independant from France, just to have more control over their region. Besides, from what i know France wouldn't allow any of that, maybe some minor levels of it. Think of what would happen in France's provinces... they'd all want to do the same.
I have to agree with Frenchie about the Corsican/French question, though.

About the language thing... Does she really speak Corsican? It's just that i don't think she knows it completely, maybe some basic stuff, that you pick up as a slang while still being young. Or did her parents/grandparents teach her that too?

[aditya8617]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corsica#Politics

Here it says that most Corsicans want to stay French but want to popularize their local language on the island. This just I would say supports what aFrenchie stated in his post.

[christelle]

Well

France is an old country, and we have lots of differents dialects here, spoken by young and oldest....
France is very different everywhere, in every part we have our dialects, our culture, our food, and mentality too is different...
The cruel Barbarian "Vikkings" from Scandinavia came in France a long time ago to get our country, that's why now the north west in France the Bretagne/Normandie considers themselves as celtics above all...
The same for "country Basque3, in south west, the same for corsican.........
Well, we are french it's true but we are very different, because of our different origins from Italy, Spain, england, sweeden, denmark, arab countries...Each french is really proud about his own department because it's unique, France is very rich, it's like lots of different countries in a big country...Corse is just a bit far in the sea..
Chek out the french islands like Guadeloupe, Martinique, it's very different, they are french but they have an other style of life!!

[riva2model64]

ha that sounds kinda like the US, except that the US is is very recent country, has very short less than 300 yr. history as independent nation. . .

just look at Hawaii, it is an American state, but so different

though I've only traveled along the east coast of the US so I wouldn't know that much

[aFrenchie]

PS. so what you're saying aFrenchie is that France considers Corsica a baby
France and so does Alizée?
I meant that if a French asks another French 'where are you from', the question is surely about which region or city in France. Probably the same in the US: I suppose that if a Texan in New York is asked where he's from, he'll reply 'from Texas' and not 'from America' :) (and Corsica is 100% French if you had a doubt about this)

[riva2model64]

I meant that if a French asks another French 'where are you from', the question is surely about which region or city in France. Probably the same in the US: I suppose that if a Texan in New York is asked where he's from, he'll reply 'from Texas' and not 'from America' :) (and Corsica is 100% French if you had a doubt about this)

ye I see what ya guys mean now

ps. Mon Maquis en concert rocks thanks Brad!!

[RMJ]

She's from Corsica. And France. But her heart belongs to Corsica, I'm sure about it. She has family there, she has old friends there, she has memories there...


can Alizée speak French, Corsican, and English

3 languages wow

She speaks French, Corse, some(?) Italian (Corse is like southern Italian dialects, so I'm sure she understands Italian quite well even if she hasn't actually studied it), and (very) little English.

So, she's pretty much average European. Most europeans knows well 2 to 4 languages.



Alizée only lives in Paris right now because of Jeremy,
How can you tell that ? Alizée has lived in Paris since 2000. It's not that simple to leave it anymore. Especially when you are singer with all the contacts around you in that city. She has career there !

[riva2model64]

How can you tell that ? Alizée has lived in Paris since 2000. It's not that simple to leave it anymore. Especially when you are singer with all the contacts around you in that city. She has career there !

if that is so, it is sad
she says in the interviews she misses the Corsica a lot

[RMJ]

I miss her a lot, too, and still I don't move to Paris.... yet...

I don't want to live every summer in my old home town either, but since there's my work I has to. I'd rather live summer in the current city...

There's things that you just need to live with.

[aditya8617]

I miss her a lot, too, and still I don't move to Paris.... yet...

I don't want to live every summer in my old home town either, but since there's my work I has to. I'd rather live summer in the current city...

There's things that you just need to live with.

So true, we would all love to go to Paris in summer but can't everyone has something more important to do.

[Urb4n]

I bet she'd say Corsican, she doesn't ever hide the fact that she's from there(not that she has a reason to i guess).

[Pirate515]

Alizée has lived in Paris since 2000. It's not that simple to leave it anymore. Especially when you are singer with all the contacts around you in that city. She has career there!Did she actually move to Paris when she was working on her first 2 albums or did she just come there to work? My guess is that she probably just didn't have the time to go back home to Corsica with all the craziness going on around her. After all, she did tour all over Europe and Asia a lot, with that and recording there was probably not a lot of time left for her to spend at home. Then obviously, she did move to Paris for good at the end of 2003 after she married Jeremy.

[NANAKI]

Did she actually move to Paris when she was working on her first 2 albums or did she just come there to work? My guess is that she probably just didn't have the time to go back home to Corsica with all the craziness going on around her. After all, she did tour all over Europe and Asia a lot, with that and recording there was probably not a lot of time left for her to spend at home. Then obviously, she did move to Paris for good at the end of 2003 after she married Jeremy.

Yeah but she also goes back and visits her parnets in Corsica at least that is what I have read.

[Ben]

She speaks French, Corse, some(?) Italian (Corse is like southern Italian dialects, so I'm sure she understands Italian quite well even if she hasn't actually studied it), and (very) little English
I believe I remember reading that she's not fluent in Corsican. More and more young people here these days are not. They know about as much Corsu as they do English, i.e. just the key phrases, maybe a little more. That's one reason why there are such political and social movements to bring back the language - it's in danger dying out.

Anyway, yes, I agree with those who said that she surely considers herself both French and Corsican. Sort of the same way I'm both an American and a New Yorker, but of course a bit stronger than that because of the even more divergent culture and history of Corsica.

I remember that Laetitia Casta was asked this same question in an interview once, and she answered that of course she considers herself 100% French. French and Corsican are by no means mutually exclusive. I'm here now and can tell you that it feels both very unique and very French at the same time.

I haven't heard anyone speaking Corsu yet, though. But I have seen some graffiti in it, apparently of a political nature. Keep in mind that a 2003 referendum for greater autonomy from France was voted down by only like 51% of the population!

Very interesting place...


Edit:
BTW, I'm not sure when Alizée really "moved" to Paris. I guess it depends on what you consider fully moving there to be. AFAIK, she got a place in Paris right away around the time of the first album, but continued to go back to Corsica as much as possible; gradually going less and less. She still visits quite often, I'm sure (the airport and port seemingly favorite spots for the Paparazzi to catch her), but she was pretty much firmly based in Paris before meeting Jérémy. So I wouldn't blame him for keeping her from Corsica. He could just as easily have moved as she did, but of course Paris is the place to be given both their careers.

[RMJ]

I believe I remember reading that she's not fluent in Corsican. More and more young people here these days are not. They know about as much Corsu as they do English, i.e. just the key phrases, maybe a little more. That's one reason why there are such political and social movements to bring back the language - it's in danger dying out.
Yup, you are right about it. But I'm sure she knows some anyways. Since she knows some Italian, too. It can be clearly seen on Italian interviews that she understands it, even tho, she may not be able to speak it or have conversation with it. She may not understand it perfectly but till some point she does understand it.


Pirate515
I'm sure she moved there during Gourmandises era. She sure did, like Snatcher said, fly back to Corsica all the time, but it's very logical since it was her home 16 years.

I visit my home town every now and then, too, even if I hate the town itself, it has lots of my old friends there and relatives. It's not so easy to just continue in your life without them. But little by little you'll continue...


aditya8617
I wasn't talking about Paris. :)

[Ben]

Yup, you are right about it. But I'm sure she knows some anyways. Since she knows some Italian, too. It can be clearly seen on Italian interviews that she understands it, even tho, she may not be able to speak it or have conversation with it. She may not understand it perfectly but till some point she does understand it.
Yeah. But so with French being her primary language, the one she uses to communicate with everyday, I'm sure she feels that she is thoroughly French. Though then again, we just got that "new" video today where she says how "Corsican" she is, so well, I guess she identifies both ways equally strong, like we've been saying.

[Pirate515]

She sure did, like Snatcher said, fly back to Corsica all the time, but it's very logical since it was her home 16 years.Not only did, but still does. In fact, she spent quite some time there with Annie-Lee this past winter and spring since Jeremy's album came out around that time and he was busy touring/promoting it.

[NANAKI]

Yeah. But so with French being her primary language, the one she uses to communicate with everyday, I'm sure she feels that she is thoroughly French. Though then again, we just got that "new" video today where she says how "Corsican" she is, so well, I guess she identifies both ways equally strong, like we've been saying.

what video are you talking about

[Ben]

what video are you talking about
http://www.moi-alizee.us/forums/showthread.php?t=383

[RMJ]

Not only did, but still does. In fact, she spent quite some time there with Annie-Lee this past winter and spring since Jeremy's album came out around that time and he was busy touring/promoting it.
Yup, she does it still. Didn't mean that she would have stopped going there.