Orîginâlite
 | This article is incomplete because it is pending further input from participants, or it is a work-in-progress by one author. Please comment on this article's talk page to share your input, comments and questions. Note: To contribute to this article, you may need to seek help from the author(s) of this page. |
Orîginâlite (Estmerish: Originality; Gaullican: originalité) is an official state policy within Champania. The policy began in the 1940s, and has seen periods of waxing and waning intensity. The policy was initiated in 1939 at the 2nd National Congress of the Champanois Socialist Workers' Party in an effort to get rid of Gaullican influences on the newly independent Champania.
Under the policy, cities, streets, and provinces were renamed to more "traditional" Champanian names, people are encouraged to adopt Champanian names or Champanian spellings of names, and historical Champanian literary and artistic pieces are promoted by the government. Orîginâlite is closely linked to Champania's national communism, and forms an important pillar of the Champanois ethnic identity. The results of orîginâlite have been debated as Gaullican personal names continue to be used, and many Gaullican names of cities and regions continue to be used interchangeably with their Champanian counterparts. One of the few universally agreed upon successes of the policy is the resurgence in the day-to-day usage of the Champanian language, going from the primary language of roughly 17.6% of the population in 1925 to being spoken at varying capacities by over 75.9% of the population by 2000.
Origins
Renaming
Following the 2nd National Congress of the Champanois Socialist Workers' Party, then acting General Secratary Tiberî Astrûc issued the August Manifesto, which put into law the various issues voted on at the 2nd National Congress among which was the implementation of orîginâlite. Titled "Proclamation of the Usage and Implementation of the Champanian Language," Astrûc laid the groundwork for the broad renaming of cities and departments to "traditional" Champanian names, while changing one's personal name to a culturally Champanian one or to use the Champanian spelling of their Gaullican name was painted in a patriotic light.
Place names
The "Directive on the Usage of Original Place Names" (Champanian: Ła dîrèctiva seuper ło ûs deu nômes de łuòc orîginâls), often simply referred to as Directive 22, made it mandatory for all settlements and administrative regions on all official documents, maps, and road signs. This change came into effect on 1 June, 1941, and simultaneously made it illegal to use the Gaullican names, although this in practice is rarely enforced and often used solely as a political tool.