Language, Culture, and Hegemony in Modern France: 1539 to the MillenniumIn this panoramic study, Freeman Henry chronicles the rise to prominence of French language and culture. He meticulously analyzes the protracted government-sponsored efforts to foster and maintain that status and--ultimately--the latter-day challenges to France's national linguistic identity posed by Anglocentric globalization and a multicentric European Union. The internal history of the language is closely intertwined with its external history: phonology, morphology, lexicography, and orthography come alive against a backdrop of political, cultural, and institutional manifestations. A felicitous blend of documentary evidence and critical analysis serves to elucidate crucial stages, events, and concepts: 16th-century exuberance, 17th-century foundations, 18th-century expansionism, Revolutionary ideology. Restoration restructuring and commercialization, the advent of linguistic science, the coming of the media age, encroaching technocracy, and clamors for linguistic parity. Individual chapter focus on the plight of minority linguistic communities such as the blind and the deaf, language monitoring policies and legislation such as the Loi Toubon, as well as the feminization project legitimizing Madame la ministre. --Publisher description. |
Contents
Preface by R Howard Bloch | 1 |
2 | 23 |
5 | 32 |
8 | 40 |
Chapter Three Revolution Restoration Language for Profit | 46 |
1 | 56 |
Braille LSF ASL | 93 |
Language Science Nation | 135 |
Parlezvous franglais? Evitez | 191 |
Madame lale Ministre | 211 |
Chapter Eight Conclusions | 243 |
| 253 | |
| 269 | |
Common terms and phrases
Academy according appeared arts become beginning blind Braille century chapter civilization communication concern Constitution continued course culture deaf decade designed dictionary Dictionnaire direct documents early edition efforts English especially Essai established Europe European example exist expression final française France French language gender German Grammaire hand idiom initial institutions interest Italy L'Epée la langue langue française later Latin learned letters linguistic Louis matters means method natural observations official origins Paris political position present produced published question reason recognized reform regional remained scientific served signs social Société society speak speech status success texts theory translation turned universal various write written