Le français et les langues d'Europe: cinquièmes rencontres de Liré ed. by Françoise Argod-Dutard

Abstract

ARGOD-DUTARD, FRANÇOISE, éd. Le français et les langues d’Europe: cinquièmes rencontres de Liré. Rennes: PU de Rennes, 2011. ISBN 978-2-7535-1728-8. Pp. 476. 20 a. For those of us who have been telling students, “Il n’y a pas qu’un seul français,” this is a welcome volume, both refreshing and salutary, rich with the contributions of more than eighty specialists active in teaching, administration, and even television. There is recognition here of varieties of French throughout Europe, the New World, and Africa, and also varieties of French in relation to pluricentric languages, to minority languages, and so on. Throughout runs a major subtext: “Comment passer de Babel à Pentecôte?”—that is, from language that speaks to a single group, allowing only a single reading, to language that unifies disparate speakers, connecting them all. French figures here in contrast to Latin and Greek, to Romanian and to Flemish. Still, the repeated use of the term périphérie is telling: the focus is on le français de France (or franco-français), and the outlook remains predominantly Francocentric. The twenty talks and four roundtables fall into four sections, followed by some thirty pages devoted to Joachim du Bellay. In each part, a thoughtful introduction sets the stage, and a conclusion pulls together the various individual and collective strands. Part 1 is devoted to linguistic diversity in Europe and its evolution . Keywords include intercomprehension, continuity (both diachronic and synchronic), regional languages, pluricentrism, and Francophonie. There is recognition of the ongoing competition between the drive for economy (une langue commune) and for identity/innovation/creativity (110)—the same dynamic at work in language change itself. Still, French frequently figures as a monolithic entity: “L’autorité symbolique du français [...] est à présent en régression” (93). The anglicisation du monde results, not from any inherent superiority of English, but from a deliberate, coherent strategy fomented by les pays anglo-saxons since the Second World War (95). “Le français, dit-on souvent, a joui d’un statut universel qui n’est plus le sien [...] Nous serons sauvés si le français [...] recommence à jouir” (111). The need to explain, and to contain, the seemingly inexorable invasion of English is evident throughout. Part 1 concludes: “C’est plus du globish que l’english [sic] dont il est question ici. Un tel anglais est une langue de service, mais ce ne peut pas être la langue de la culture européenne” (120). In part 2, pedagogical applications are handled in several workshops, culminating in a proposal for a new pedagogy. We are reminded that “la clé d’une meilleure intercompréhension est une bonne maîtrise de la langue maternelle” (238). Language must be more than a means of communication, just as there is need for more than a simple langue de service. Keywords in this section include: lexicon , cognates/shared etymology, translation, and faux amis. As for intercomprehension , one contributor sums it up neatly: “Le temps n’est plus celui de la THE FRENCH REVIEW, Vol. 86, No. 6, May 2013 Printed in U.S.A. REVIEWS Linguistics edited by Stacey Katz Bourns 1234 Défense et illustration” but “celui d’une polyphonie des langues, ou [...] d’une intercompr éhension des langues à l’échelle européenne” (127–28). Part 3 discusses specialized uses of the languages of Europe. Keywords here are terminology, neologisms , norm, and plurilinguisme. Part 4 takes a quick look at literary French in Europe, retranslation, and la litérarité des traductions, with attention paid, inter alia, to translating Latin poets into French and to bandes dessinées (even those without text). The translator should aim to produce culturally identical effects, not text successful in and for itself, nor a simple mise à plat in the target language (322). While few of the contributors’ names were immediately recognizable to this reviewer , the overall impression left from these contributions is certainly constructive . One wonders how the fruits of these debates might influence official French government policy. One is left to hope that, in this case at least, plus ça change, plus ce n’est plus la même chose. University of Hawai‘i...