La Langue française: passions et polémiques by Marie-Anne Paveau, Laurence Rosier

Abstract

Zaoui a réussi à démystifier le terrorisme islamiste, en nous donnant une image stupéfiante, difficile à imaginer. University of Wisconsin, Stevens-Point Alek Baylee Toumi Linguistics edited by Stacey Katz Bourns PAVEAU, MARIE-ANNE, et LAURENCE ROSIER. La Langue française: passions et polémiques. Paris: Vuibert, 2008. ISBN 978-2-7117-1488-9. Pp. 378. 29 a. There is a complex history of defining the French language, often articulated in standardizing and puristic terms that construct certain linguistic practices and speaker identities in relation to normative notions of what language is or should be. This ideological languaging of human practices that surrounds language, culture , and identity is both pervasive and problematic as people go about their lives in a multiplicity of language-oriented activities at home, at work, and in society at large. This situation is particularly complicated for linguists and other language specialists who, in studying and teaching language, engage in activities that, in Roy Harris’s words, make the language. Paveau and Rosier offer a thoughtprovoking book that provides language specialists—both professional and amateur —with the chance to probe the social and linguistic functioning of discourses surrounding la langue in the supposed pureté, clarté, and universalité that are grounded in le bon français. This well-organized book opens with an illuminating preface by the eminent French sociolinguist Françoise Gadet. Identifying a target audience of Frenchlanguage specialists throughout the world, the authors’ introduction proposes a tentative synthesis of the rich imaginaire linguistique that surrounds the French language, with its complex metalanguage and representations of the discours puriste sur la langue. The authors accomplish what they set out to do. Chapter 1 offers a perceptive historical view of the origins of purism and its relation to linguistic diversity and points out that “la langue française est donc née dans et par la variation” (36). Chapter 2 defines purist discourse and its circulation in various social spaces, including the media, government agencies, and schools. Chapter 3 locates the identity of purists within social space. Chapter 4 richly illustrates the linguistic, ideological, and historical complexity of the discourses attached to orthography, characterized by speakers’ internalization of positive representations of standardized spelling that can be said to constitute a pervasive “fascination pour l’orthographe” (145). Drawing on abundant examples from a range of texts, chapters 5 and 6 illustrate the privileged zones of purism that surround grammar and lexicon. Chapters 7 and 8 explore the stylistic dimensions of purism in the written language and in spoken social styles. A thoughtful conclusion takes a broadly sociolinguistic stance on the French language by rejecting the illusion that language can somehow be segregated from its socioculturally and historically complex contexts of use. The book’s lively style and clear organization facilitate the reader’s entry into an important and complex subject. However, a more concise treatment Reviews 629 would have made this book more accessible. The book’s length and density will be daunting to most undergraduate students of French sociolinguistics in American universities—and perhaps even to graduate students. Nevertheless, this volume has a place as a valuable resource. It seems well suited to the selection of engaging excerpts. Each chapter offers thoughtful and nuanced arguments supported by well-chosen examples and concise summaries of important research. The excellent bibliography features extensive references to primary texts of purist discourse as well as to linguistic, historical, and sociological research on purism. The authors avoid a reductive focus on the conservative aspects of purism. They instead adopt a dialogic and dialectical stance to critically examine purist discourse in light of modern linguistics while also recognizing purism as a form of linguistique populaire that contributes to the broader construction of knowledge about language and speakership in society. They show how purism, in its multiple discursive forms, is enacted in a wide range of practices and embodied in diverse human beings beyond the stereotypical Académicien or the school teacher. The authors refuse to allow linguists and less conservatively-minded readers to conveniently compartmentalize purism as someone else’s beliefs. This book is essential reading for teachers and researchers of French in search of ways to become more critically aware and reflective...