A problem that all the associations in Corsica face, is that they mainly concern a particular age group, more particularly people from 40 to 60 years old, while they would all like to approach a younger public. For Castelli (Kefalaki, 2010), the problem of the Corsica dance is that young public does not sufficiently take part in dance demonstrations and additionally that they do not want to wear any
traditional costume16.
The problem of dance transmission is to discuss as well. When usual ways of transmission are no longer in use, new ways should be invented. Dance prac- tice used to be transmitted orally from one generation to the other. Nevertheless, where transmission is no longer in practice in a society, it becomes extraordi- narily difficult to even find written or recorded traces which can prove the exis- tence of popular dances. Dance associations in Corsica today use this pivotal role of transmission. However, these same associations find it difficult to collaborate with other dance associations.
During the research17, the biggest communication problem perceived among
different associations was the diversity of their dance figures. To be more pre- cise, each dance association followed different rules and dance figures, a situation that eventually posed problems to dance preservation and transmission. Actually, almost all associations maintained different dance teaching tactics and dance figures. Not to neglect that most associations had a neutral or even a negative position about other associations’ tactics and transmission processes. Though, it is not just a question of how to transmit, but what to transmit. For Thiers (1989), the inhabitants should accept the fact that we live in an era of sharing and exchange and that tradition is a living organism and, as such, it is impossible to keep it intact like a museum piece. The associations founding members’ answers did not prove their willingness to interact and communicate. However, the words of some key members of Corsica’s Cultural Patrimony, like Bitton-Andreotti A., evoked the need for action and interaction among the different dance groups and governmental actors:
«We prefer to settle in front of a video recorder and to remain pathetic actors, we follow the fashion, we consume the way the media impose to us. However, when we make the effort to go towards the activities such as music and dance, we discover again our smile, the kindness and the love of life…18 » (Andreani, 2001).
16 Interview à M. Kefalaki, Bastia, October 2004.
17 Observation was the research method used to understand associative communicative con- dition.
The use of the media (radio, newspapers, magazines and the Internet), would also help the associations better, promote their actions and become able to include younger ages into their dance seminars, the imposition of French language might also be considered a reason for popular dance loss.
It is generally known that a dominant culture usually starts transferring its dif- ferent cultural and social aspects by imposing its language. As Veloutsou (2003, p. 1) claimed, language is a key source of culture demonstrating the power of communication, because humans who interact can discover similar elements, coming from their knowledge and information, and so, for this reason, they can share similar beliefs and cultural elements.
The many years of French linguistic imperialism have eliminated the every- day, natural use of Corsican language. When primary education became compul- sory (1882), French was used instead of Corsican, a fact which made Corsican a minority language, and in a great disadvantage. As a result, many Corsican expressions, fables, fairy tales, and even dances and music, were lost and are con- tinually disappearing day by day. What actions could help the preservation of such cultural elements? Some implications about dance preservation, arising from the research, follow.
Intergroup contact would possibly help resolve communication insufficiencies among Corsican dance associations. Cultural communication would ameliorate today’s condition of non-transmission, not forgetting that communication’s cul- tural advantages are always accompanied by economic and general social bene- fits. Direct and indirect contact is a necessary step to achieve communication and exchange. As a matter of fact, indirect contact can have positive consequences not only for participants, but also for nonparticipants, whose friends and associates would experience a contact. Nevertheless, intergroup contact is a necessary but insufficient condition, by itself, to resolve any potential intergroup conflict (Pet- tigrew, 2008).
According to Intergroup Contact Theory, contact between groups that takes place under optimal conditions can improve intergroup attitudes. The conditions to promote favourable intergroup relations are equal status between the groups, common goals, co-operation, institutional support (Allport, 1954) and the pro- jection of trait positivity (Stathi and Crisp, 2010).
Speaking of the last condition (the projection of trait positivity), positive
contact evokes greater self-out-group similarity19, which increases out-group
liking20 through the projection of positivity. Both the projection of positivity and
19 The group has a common ‘personality’, with rules and functions. 20 The way that others see the group.
74
reduced anxiety, though independently from one another, result in improved out-
group attitudes21.
The lack of interaction among dance groups in Corsica is a key reason for dance being a neglected area. Researchers (Tsui et al, 1992) dealing with social categorization, emphasize that similar organization members interact more with each other than with non-similar individuals. All the same, the associations’ members examined in this research mainly originated from the island, so they did not face a condition of non-similarity.
From another point of view, Turner et al. (1987) argued that if group member- ship is unsatisfactory, members would attempt to leave that group. Even when that is not physically possible, individuals may engage themselves in other forms of reduced attachment, such as psychologically withdrawing from the commu- nity (Turner et al, 1987). To avoid such situations, a global working environment should be created. The aim would be to mix individuals from different cultures with different knowledge and perspectives, and let them communicate, share and exchange. This might be possible during the annual dance festivals organised on the island during the summer, when people from over the world with different nationalities and cultures participate in dance courses and festivities. By mixing teams with regard to nationality and trying to avoid groupings based on cultural and linguistic affiliation, it is expected that possible narrow minded or ethnocen- tric viewpoints would be questioned before they could have any negative impact.
Conclusions
At the time of the research, dance associations in Corsica were the only places where popular dance was still practised. The field study research proved the exis- tence of communication problems among the different dance groups in Corsica. Most of them followed their own dance rules and figures and had their own tac- tics of dance promotion. This conflict harms even more the already-neglected oral tradition of Corsica. Referring to groups’ communication theories, mutual respect and better understanding of the situation could help the associations pro- pose and follow a common project to ameliorate the situation. Following common rules, proposing a specific agenda with dance events, inviting younger people to dance, promoting research, developing members’ identification by creating inter- cultural groups and mixing the teams with regard to nationality, are some actions which could help dance transmission. In this way, communication among the different dance groups, the cultural actors and the society could be ameliorated 21 Attitudes towards people outside the group.
so that cooperation to protect an oral patrimony in risk of disappearance could be achieved.
As Chevalier and Chiva (1990) suggested ‘in order to protect we must transmit and consequently take into account the psychological, social and cultural meth-
ods of this transmission22’.
On the other hand, France certainly had an impact on Corsica’s cultural situ- ation. The imposition of French language and a new administrative system, received different reactions. The importance of cultural preservation should be taken into account by every ‘dominant’ culture, as on one side the ‘dominated’ one needs time to adapt and advance without any cultural or other loss, and on the
other, a possible cultural loss would harm the dominant country as well23.
In this paper we treated only a specific aspect of the difficulties that an oral culture can face. The neglect of dance in an oral society influenced by a dominant culture was our main reference point. Future research could examine to a greater extent the mediating and moderating role of group processes and power relations linked to oral patrimonies, as well as the economic and general the social benefits related to cultural promotion.
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