Traces of monolingual and plurilingual ideologies in the history of language policies in France
-
Georges Lüdi
Abstract
French is often quoted as the forerunner and model of a very normative and top-down managed language, following the language policy of an archetypal monolingual nation-state, be it France, Quebec or other French-speaking communities in the world. This particular contribution is not going to prove the contrary. However, we will try to show that even the French language and the French-speaking nations are not as much of a monolithic block as they are frequently perceived to be. At different moments in history other ideologies on the French language appeared. They concerned, on the one hand, the relationship between “French” and other languages – historical minorities and immigrant languages – and, on the other hand, the attitudes towards different varieties of French. In other words, the history of French must take into account three different elements: (a) the elaboration, over the centuries, of the endoxa, that is the official ideology, fixed in the dominant discourse; (b) the existence and, at some moments in history, prioritization of other types of discourse, manifesting more or less opposite opinions; (c) the fact that different beliefs may co-exist, that contradictory voices can be heard simultaneously at certain moments and also struggle in the arena of public discourse, enabling the (en)doxa to be polyphonic.
Abstract
French is often quoted as the forerunner and model of a very normative and top-down managed language, following the language policy of an archetypal monolingual nation-state, be it France, Quebec or other French-speaking communities in the world. This particular contribution is not going to prove the contrary. However, we will try to show that even the French language and the French-speaking nations are not as much of a monolithic block as they are frequently perceived to be. At different moments in history other ideologies on the French language appeared. They concerned, on the one hand, the relationship between “French” and other languages – historical minorities and immigrant languages – and, on the other hand, the attitudes towards different varieties of French. In other words, the history of French must take into account three different elements: (a) the elaboration, over the centuries, of the endoxa, that is the official ideology, fixed in the dominant discourse; (b) the existence and, at some moments in history, prioritization of other types of discourse, manifesting more or less opposite opinions; (c) the fact that different beliefs may co-exist, that contradictory voices can be heard simultaneously at certain moments and also struggle in the arena of public discourse, enabling the (en)doxa to be polyphonic.
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Preface vii
- Multilingualism in a standard language culture 1
-
I. Theoretical considerations and historical background
- Myths we live and speak by 45
- Marching forward into the past 71
- Language and ethnicity in a European context 97
-
II. Case-studies
- Multilingual speakers in a monolingual society 127
- Multilingualism and standardization in Greece 153
- The development of Finnish into a national language 179
- Traces of monolingual and plurilingual ideologies in the history of language policies in France 205
- Centripetal and centrifugal forces in the sociolinguistic configuration of the Iberian Peninsula 231
- Dutch in Belgium 259
- The Caucasus 283
- Multilingualism and the disputed standardizations of Macedonian and Moldovan 309
- Name index 329
- Language index 331
- Index of geographical names 333
- Subject index 335
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Preface vii
- Multilingualism in a standard language culture 1
-
I. Theoretical considerations and historical background
- Myths we live and speak by 45
- Marching forward into the past 71
- Language and ethnicity in a European context 97
-
II. Case-studies
- Multilingual speakers in a monolingual society 127
- Multilingualism and standardization in Greece 153
- The development of Finnish into a national language 179
- Traces of monolingual and plurilingual ideologies in the history of language policies in France 205
- Centripetal and centrifugal forces in the sociolinguistic configuration of the Iberian Peninsula 231
- Dutch in Belgium 259
- The Caucasus 283
- Multilingualism and the disputed standardizations of Macedonian and Moldovan 309
- Name index 329
- Language index 331
- Index of geographical names 333
- Subject index 335
