Identity, insecurity and image : France and language
Author(s)
Bibliographic Information
Identity, insecurity and image : France and language
(Multilingual matters / series editor, Derrick Sharp, 112)
Multilingual Matters, c1999
- : hbk.
- : pbk.
Available at 22 libraries
  Aomori
  Iwate
  Miyagi
  Akita
  Yamagata
  Fukushima
  Ibaraki
  Tochigi
  Gunma
  Saitama
  Chiba
  Tokyo
  Kanagawa
  Niigata
  Toyama
  Ishikawa
  Fukui
  Yamanashi
  Nagano
  Gifu
  Shizuoka
  Aichi
  Mie
  Shiga
  Kyoto
  Osaka
  Hyogo
  Nara
  Wakayama
  Tottori
  Shimane
  Okayama
  Hiroshima
  Yamaguchi
  Tokushima
  Kagawa
  Ehime
  Kochi
  Fukuoka
  Saga
  Nagasaki
  Kumamoto
  Oita
  Miyazaki
  Kagoshima
  Okinawa
  Korea
  China
  Thailand
  United Kingdom
  Germany
  Switzerland
  France
  Belgium
  Netherlands
  Sweden
  Norway
  United States of America
Note
Includes bibliographical references (p. [242]-248) and index
Description and Table of Contents
Description
This book is about the relationship between language and the society that uses it. It specifically aims to discover what drives the French to concentrate so much on language, on what characterises their approach, and on the explanations for the policies governments pursue. It concludes that three motives have been and are important: insecurity, identity and image creation. Insecurity - the fear of a possible break-up of the French state from attacks on it - has coloured policy for the regional languages, the fight against Franglais, and policy, often not openly stated, towards certain social categories - the young, women, immigrants, the poor. The desire to affirm French identity and uniqueness is at the origin of policies to reinforce the status of the French language in the public domain. The zeal of the state in spreading French abroad, and a more recent discovery of the importance of language diversity in the world, can be traced to a mixture of altruism and imperialism: a desire to benefit mankind tempered with an intention to ensure the maintenance of France's world role.
Table of Contents
Figures
Tables and Maps
Acknowledgements
Preface
Introduction
Part I Insecurity
1 Territorial Insecurity: Fear of the Regional Languages
2 Fear Mixed with Pride: The Myth of the Hexagon
3 Social Insecurity: Fear of the Social Outsider
4 Fear Mixed with Guilt: The Myth of Inclusion
5 Cultural Insecurity: Americanophobia
Part II Identity
6 Identity and the Status of French: The Language of the Republic
7 Managing French to Serve the State: Stability, Elasticity and Polyvalency
Part III Image
8 Gaining Influence and Prestige: Francophonie, Cultural Relations and French Abroad
9 Multilingualism: A Policy for Openness and Diversity?
Conclusion
Notes
References
Index
by "Nielsen BookData"