Since the mid-20th century, a variety of social, economic and political factors have affected the cultural practices and conceptions of identity on the Mediterranean island of Corsica. Linguistic anthropologist Alexandra Jaffe discusses the Corsican language and Corsican expressive culture. She addresses both the island's shift towards the French language and the Corsican language revitalization movement that began in the early 1970s. Drawing on ethnographic data, Jaffe offers examples of continued use of the Corsican language in traditional cultural forms, such as thepaghjella musical tradition, and poetic jousts called chjam e rispondi as well as in the use of Corsican in newer media and artistic genres such as novels, plays, bilingual radio, television and advertising. The talk focuses on cultural continuity and change in response to changing political and economic circumstances. Speaker Biography: Alexandra Jaffe is a professor of anthropology at California State University, Long Beach, with a specialty in linguistic anthropology.

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