Identity, Insecurity and Image: France and Language

269 Pages·1999·0.92 MB·English

by  Dennis Ager

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title: Identity, Insecurity and Image : France and Language
Multilingual Matters (Series) ; 112
author: Ager, D. E.
publisher: Multilingual Matters
isbn10 | asin: 1853594431
print isbn13: 9781853594434
ebook isbn13: 9780585156101
language: English
subject France--Civilization--20th century, Language policy--
France, Language and culture--France, Civilization, Modern-
-French influences, French language--Political aspects--
Foreign countries, Symbolism.
publication date: 1999
lcc: DC33.7.A64 1999eb
ddc: 306.44/944
subject: France--Civilization--20th century, Language policy--
France, Language and culture--France, Civilization, Modern-
-French influences, French language--Political aspects--
Foreign countries, Symbolism.
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Page i
Identity, Insecurity and Image:
France and Language

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Page ii
MULTILINGUAL MATTERS SERIES
Series Editor
Professor John Edwards, St. Francis Xavier University, Antigonish, Nova Scotia, Canada
Other Books in the Series
Beyond Bilingualism: Multilingualism and Multilingual Education
JASONE CENOZ and FRED GENESEE (eds)
Language Attitudes in Sub-Saharan Africa
EFUROSIBINA ADEGBIJA
Language, Ethnicity and Education
PETER BROEDER and GUUS EXTRA
Language Planning: From Practice to Theory
ROBERT B. KAPLAN and RICHARD, B. BALDAUF Jr.
Language Reclamation
HUBISI NWENMELY
Linguistic Minorities in Central and Eastern Europe
CHRISTINA BRATT PAULSTON and DONALD PECKHAM (eds)
Quebec's Aboriginal Languages
JACQUES MAURAIS (ed.)
The Step-Tongue: Children's English in Singapore
ANTHEA FRASER GUPTA
Three GenerationsTwo LanguagesOne Family
LI WEI
Other Books of Interest
Chtimi: The Urban Vernaculars of Northern France
TIMOTHY POOLEY
Encyclopedia of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism
COLIN BAKER and SYLVIA PRYS JONES
'Francophonie' in the 1990s: Problems and Opportunities
DENNIS AGER
Language, Culture and Communication in Contemporary Europe
CHARLOTTE HOFFMANN (ed.)
Languages in Contact and Conflict
SUE WRIGHT (ed.)
A Reader in French Sociolinguistics
MALCOLM OFFORD (ed.)
Please contact us for the latest book information:
Multilingual Matters, Frankfurt Lodge, Clevedon Hall,
Victoria Road, Clevedon, BS21 7HH, England
http://www.multilingual-matters.com"

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Identity, Insecurity and Image:
France and Language
Dennis Ager
MULTLINGUAL MATTERS 112
Series Editor: John Edwards
MULTILINGUAL MATTERS LTD
Clevedon · Philadelphia · Toronto · Sydney

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Page iv
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Ager, D.E.
Identity, Insecurity and Image: France and Language/Dennis Ager Multilingual Matters: 112
Includes bibliographical references and index
1. FranceCivilization-20th century. 2. Language policyFrance. 3. Language and cultureFrance. 4. Civilization,
ModernFrench influences. 5. French languagePolitical aspectsForeign countries. 6. Symbolism. I. Title. II. Series: Multilingual Matters (Series): 112.
DC33.7.A64 1999
306.44'944-dc21 98-31849
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN 1-85359-443-1 (hbk)
ISBN 1-85359-442-3 (pbk)
Multilingual Matters Ltd
UK: Frankfurt Lodge, Clevedon Hall, Victoria Road, Clevedon BS21 7HH.
USA: 325 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19106, USA.
Canada: 5201 Dufferin Street, North York, Ontario M3H 5T8, Canada.
Australia: P.O. Box 586, Artamon, NSW, Australia.
Copyright © 1999 Dennis Ager
All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced in any form or by any means without permission in writing from the publisher.
Printed and bound in Great Britain by WBC Book Manufacturers Ltd.

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Page v
CONTENTS
Figures vi
Tables and maps vii
Acknowledgements viii
Preface ix
Introduction 1
Part 1: Insecurity
1
Territorial insecurity: fear of the regional languages 15
2
Fear mixed with pride: the myth of the hexagon 42
3
Social insecurity: fear of the social outsider 63
4
Fear mixed with guilt: the myth of inclusion 86
5
Americanophobia: fear of Franglais 98
Part 2: Identity
6
Identity and the status of French: the language of the Republic 116
7
Managing French to serve the state: stability, elasticity and
polyvalency 145
Part 3: Image
8
Gaining influence and prestige: Francophonie, cultural relations
and French abroad 165
9
Multilingualism: a policy for openness and diversity? 191
Conclusion 206
Notes 223
References 242
Index 249

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Page vi
FIGURES
Figure 1.1
Grégoire's proposals for improving French 27
Figure 1.2
Regional languages in education 37
Figure 1.3
The state and regional languages 39
Figure 1.4
Fishman's scale of Graded Intergenerational Disruption 40
Figure 2.1
The myth of the hexagon 43
Figure 2.2
French regionalism 58
Figure 3.1
Tests of inclusion 64
Figure 4.1
Threats to French 93
Figure 5.1
Etiemble's recommendations for action on language 100
Figure 5.2
The ideology of English 104
Figure 5.3
Druon and pride in French 109
Figure 6.1
La France profonde 123
Figure 6.2
The ideology of the Front National 124
Figure 6.3
French as official language 131
Figure 6.4
The Toubon Act 134
Figure 7.1
Types of purism 146
Figure 7.2
Associations defending French 151
Figure 8.1
The aims of French language policy 165
Figure 8.2
For and against the French educational system 170
Figure 8.3
Continuing neo-colonialism 171
Figure 8.4
French in the EU institutions 180
Figure 8.5
1998 instructions to civil servants 182
Figure 8.6
Chirac's guiding principles for Francophonie 186
Figure 8.7
Members of Francophonie in 1998 188
Figure 9.1
The 1994 global plan for languages 198
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Page vii
TABLES AND MAPS
Table Intro.1
Presidents and the National Assembly 1974-1997 4
Map 1.1
France: the linguistic regions 16
Table 1.1
Maintenance of dialects in Alsace 36
Table 2.1
Administrative and cultural regions 48
Map 2.1
Administrative and cultural regions 49
Table 2.2
Violence and explosions in Corsica and France 61
Table 3.1
Success in formal examinations 79
Table 4.1
Confidence in the social institutions 95
Table 4.2
Justifying anti-social actions 96
Table 5.1
The image of French 110
Table 8.1
Exports of French books 169
Map 8.1
Francophonie 187
Table 9.1
Secondary school enrolments in foreign languages 201
Table Conc.1
Opinions on French nationality 217

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Page viii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Acknowledgements are due to a number of people and organisations. Information, ideas and opinions necessarily come
from reading, listening and talking to other people and from general observation. It is impossible to identify exactly the
source of many of the opinions and ideas expressed here. Much of this book was developed in Aston University, and
many generations of colleagues and students have contributed. Sabbatical periods in Monash and Macquarie
Universities in Australia, visits and consultations in Paris, New Caledonia, Tahiti, London and Warwick have enabled
the collection of material. The Délégation Générale à la Langue Française, and its documentalist Josseline Bruchet,
have been particularly helpful. Anonymous readers have made useful suggestions. I am particularly indebted to Annis
Ager for invaluable help in many ways, including the exchange of ideas, proof-reading and checking references and
notes. Any errors or omissions remaining are the responsibility of the author. All translations have been made by the
author except where indicated.

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Page ix
PREFACE
It is now nearly five hundred years since the French state and French governments made the first official
pronouncements on the French language. Since then, government after government has declared the language a symbol
of the state, insisted it alone be used as the means of education, fostered its development and controlled its use. But the
1994 Toubon Act on the use of French provoked much debate in France about the purpose of such language planning in
a contemporary democracy. Did governments have the right to try to control language use? What was the real motive of
its supporters: a purist attempt to keep French unsullied, or a simple fear of American imports? Was the very concept of
protecting French a denial of the human rights of the Bretons, the Corsicans or the immigrants living in France? Was
the law racist? Would it work? If this was an example of Right-wing xenophobia, how was it possible for a guide to the
European institutions published by the Socialist government in 1998 to be equally protective? How could both Left and
Right try to insist that French civil servants use French in international meetings at home or abroad, whether or not
translation was provided, and whether or not the meeting was formal or informal? Are French governments supported
by public opinion in such matters? Why do the French try so hard to protect their language, when it is in no danger of
disappearance, is used in all the continents and, after English, is learnt by more people than any other European
language? Why do they think that language is so important, and why do they agree that it is government's role to
interfere in language matters?
This book aims to explore the reasons for the language policies of the French state. It looks for their origins and
purposes, and their areas of application. It covers policies aimed at ensuring and maintaining the status and prestige of
French, in France and abroad; policies towards other languages used in France, the regional and community languages;

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