Comité flamand de France

{{Short description|French learned society}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2025}}

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The Flemish Committee of France is a French association, constituted as a scholarly and cultural society with publishing responsibilities. It is dedicated to the study, preservation and dissemination of Flemish culture in French Flanders, with particular emphasis on language,{{cite book |last=Ager |first=Dennis Ernest |date=1990 |title=Sociolinguistics and Contemporary French |chapter=4 - Regional languages |location=Cambridge |publisher=Cambridge University Press |page=79 |isbn=9780511620768}} literature and history.{{cite book |last1=Harrison |first1=Austin |author-link1=Austin Harrison |date=1904 |title=The pan-Germanic doctrine; being a study of German political aims and aspirations |url=https://archive.org/details/pangermanicdoct01harrgoog/page/n188/mode/2up |location=London |publisher=Harper |page=164}}{{cite book |last1=Gildea |first1=Robert |author-link1=Robert Gildea |date=1994 |title=The Past in French History |chapter=4 Regionalism |location=New Haven, Connecticut |publisher=Yale University Press |page=175 |isbn=9780300057997}}

Founded on 10 April 1853 in Dunkirk{{cite journal |last=de Coussemaker-Van Robais |first=Solange |date=2012-12-09 |title=Le Comité flamand de France (1853-1940), société savante ou mouvement régionaliste ? |url=https://www.revues.armand-colin.com/histoire/histoire-economie-societe/histoire-economie-societe-42012/comite-flamand-france-1853-1940-societe-savante-mouvement-regionaliste |journal=Histoire, économie & société |language=fr |volume=4 |issue=4 |pages=59–73 |issn=0752-5702}}{{cite journal |last=Ghillebaert |first=Christian-Pierre |date=2014-01-01 |title=Itinérance érudite dans la campagne flamande |url=https://journals.openedition.org/etudesrurales/10027 |journal=Études rurales |language=fr |issue=193 |pages=79–94 |doi=10.4000/etudesrurales.10027 |issn=1777-537X}} as the Comité flamand de France,{{refn|group=note|Although the founding members of the Comité flamand de France did not formally designate a vernacular name for their learned society, several historical West Flemish appellations can nonetheless be identified, including Vlaemsch Comiteit van Vrankryk{{cite magazine |last1=van Duyse |first1=Prudens |author-link1=Prudens van Duyse |collaboration=Comité flamand de France |magazine=Annales du Comité flamand de France |date=1853 |url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k5505422q/f88 |title=Odes au Comité flamand de France |language=fr, nl |publisher=Mme Théry |location=Dunkirk |publication-date=1854 |page=84}} and Vlaemsch Comiteyt van Vrankryk.{{cite magazine |last=Bels |first=Pierre Jacques |collaboration=Comité flamand de France |magazine=Annales du Comité flamand de France |date=1853 |url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k5505422q/f100 |title=Odes au Comité flamand de France |language=fr, nl |publisher=Mme Théry |location=Dunkirk |publication-date=1854 |page=96}} Of these, Vlaemsch Comiteit van Vrankryk, as employed by the Flemish poet Prudens van Duyse, is preferable, as it adheres more closely to contemporary Dutch orthographic conventions while exhibiting fewer dialectal idiosyncrasies. Regarding the standard Dutch rendition, the designation advanced by the late Jaak J.H. Veltmans, former chairman of the Algemeen Nederlands Verbond, Vlaams Komitee van Frankrijk,{{cite magazine |last=Veltmans |first=Jaak J.H. |magazine=Neerlandia |volume=63 |url=https://www.dbnl.org/tekst/_nee003195901_01/_nee003195901_01_0023.php |title=Indrukken en aantekeningen over Frans- en Zuid-Vlaanderen |publisher=Algemeen-Nederlands Verbond |language=nl |location=The Hague |publication-date=1959 |page=13}} represents a more modern and linguistically conventional alternative to that proposed by the Frisian dialectologist Johan Winkler, Vlaamsch Genootschap van Frankrijk.{{cite magazine |last=Winkler |first=Johan |magazine=Biekorf |volume=1 |url=https://www.dbnl.org/tekst/_bie001189001_01/_bie001189001_01_0027.php |title=Fransch Vlanderen |language=nl |publisher=De Plancke |location=Bruges |publication-date=1890 |page=62}}}} bearing the motto Voor Moedertael en Vaderland,{{refn|group=note|The Dutch motto, which may be rendered literally as "For Mother Tongue and Fatherland," encapsulates the guiding principles and cultural aspirations that underpinned the establishment of the Comité flamand de France. It denotes both a deliberate linguistic affirmation and a strong sense of allegiance to regional identity and cultural heritage.{{cite book |last=Winkler |first=Johan |date=1888 |title=Oud Nederland |chapter=Nederland in Frankrijk en Duitschland |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uFVUAAAAcAAJ |language=nl |location='s-Gravenhage |publisher=Charles Ewing |page=178}} Moreover, a comparison between this motto and the designation adopted in 1845 by a comparable learned society in East Flanders—the Société littéraire flamande voor Moedertael en Vaderland de Deynze—{{cite book |date=1851 |title=Nederduitsch letterkundig jaarboekje |chapter=Letterkundige Werkzaemheden — Dicht- en Tooneelstryden des jaers 1850 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uFVUAAAAcAAJ |language=nl |location=Gent |publisher=Drukkery der gebroeders Michiels |page=178}}{{cite book |date=1851 |title=Annuaire de l'Académie royale des sciences, des lettres et des beaux-arts de Belgique |chapter=Académies et sociétés établies en Belgique pour la culture des sciences, des lettres et des beaux-arts |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=foYYAQAAIAAJ |language=fr |location=Brussels |publisher=Chez M. Hayez |page=140}} while French was Belgium’s only official language, reveals clear and notable resemblances in terms of cultural values and orientation toward linguistic rights.}} the society emerged under the leadership of Edmond de Coussemaker at a time when the use of the Flemish language remained a delicate matter in the region.{{cite book |last=Top |first=Stefaan |date=January 1, 1995 |editor-last=Porter |editor-first=James |title=Ballads and Boundaries: Narrative Singing in an Intercultural Context - Proceedings of the 23rd International Ballad Conference of the Commission for Folk Poetry held at UCLA in 1993. |location=Los Angeles |publisher=UCLA Ethnomusicology Publications |page=317 |chapter=Chants populaires des Flamands de France (1856): A Contribution to Comparative Folksong Research, France/Belgium: Flanders |isbn=9780882870526}}{{cite journal |last=Mihail |first=Benoît |date=2005 |title=Le mouvement flamand de France à la lumière de l'histoire culturelle |url=https://shs.cairn.info/revue-du-nord-2005-2-page-633?lang=fr |journal=Revue du Nord |language=fr |volume=360361 |issue=2 |pages=633–645 |doi=10.3917/rdn.360.0633 |issn=0035-2624}} It has operated continuously under this French designation since its inception and, through the publication of a bulletin and annals, as well as the organisation of lectures, ranks among the oldest learned societies in France.

The committee is based in Hazebrouck,{{cite web |editor-last1=Bos |editor-first1=Agnès |title=CTHS - Comité flamand de France - HAZEBROUCK cedex |url=https://cths.fr/an/societe.php?id=1311 |access-date=2025-03-24 |website=CTHS Comité des travaux historiques et scientifiques |language=fr}} where it maintains a special library that houses its own publications alongside a collection of regional works.{{cite web |date=2019-08-12 |title=Qu’est ce que le comité flamand de France ? |url=https://www.lavoixdunord.fr/623924/article/2019-08-12/qu-est-ce-que-le-comite-flamand-de-france |url-access=subscription |access-date=2025-03-24 |website=La Voix du Nord |language=fr}}{{cite web |last=Duhot |first=Ghislain |date=2024-04-28 |title=Le Comité flamand de France prépare de nouvelles annales |url=https://www.lavoixdunord.fr/1456798/article/2024-04-28/le-comite-flamand-de-france-prepare-de-nouvelles-annales |access-date=2025-03-24 |website=La Voix du Nord |language=fr}} It is also entrusted with the custodianship of the collections of the Jeanne Devos Museum in Wormhout.{{cite web |title=Jeanne DEVOS, photographe |editor-last1=Naert |editor-first1=Virginie |website=Office de tourisme des Hauts de Flandre |location=Bergues |publisher=Office de tourisme des Hauts de Flandre |url=https://www.ot-hautsdeflandre.fr/fr/decouvrir-les-hauts-de-flandre/patrimoine-historique/les-hommes-et-femmes-celebres-du-territoire/jeanne-devos-1ere-femme-photographe |access-date=2025-03-24 |language=fr, en , nl}}