French activists launch legal case over
English-only translations at Notre Dame
Group says Paris landmark contravenes laws requiring
public buildings to translate signs into at least two other languages
Kim
Willsher in Paris
Wed 22 Mar
2023 12.46 GMT
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/mar/22/french-language-activists-sue-over-notre-dame-signs
A group of
French-language activists has launched a legal action over signs at Notre Dame
Cathedral being translated only into English and not any other language.
The
association, which won a similar case brought against the Eiffel Tower,
believes failing to include other foreign languages leads to the increasing
global domination of English.
Louis
Maisonneuve, a spokesperson for the Défense de la langue française (Defence of
the French language), said the legal complaint was lodged with the Paris court
on Monday, the Journée internationale de la Francophonie (international
French-speaking day).
While
campaigners are more generally opposed to the use of English words and terms in
French documents, communications, signs and advertisements – among others –
they say the signs at Notre Dame and other public buildings contravene the 1994
regulation requiring all public buildings to translate their signs and
information into at least two other languages.
“The law
protects French because it promotes linguistic pluralism,” Maisonneuve told
AFP.
The 1994
Toubon law requires the use of French in official government publications, all
advertising, in workplaces, commercial contracts and all state schools. It also
requires a “double translation” of public signs and translated official
documents into two foreign languages, usually English and one other in order to
promote multilingualism.
The
association points out that certain information boards explaining the work to
repair the cathedral, devastated by fire in 2019, are in French and English
only. Its legal complaint cites Gen Jean-Louis Georgelin, who was appointed by
the culture ministry to oversee the Notre Dame repair work.
Maisonneuve
said the association had persuaded Paris city hall to add a Spanish translation
to signs at the Eiffel Tower last November. “We threatened to take them to
court. It took a year … in the end they changed them all to include Spanish,”
he said.
It has also
complained to 20 other public bodies over their use of English, including in an
advert by the national postal service La Poste for its banking service with the
title “Ma French Bank” instead of Ma banque française.
Legal
action is also being taken against the Bouches du Rhône authorities for their
“Pass my Provence” visitors’ scheme, the Sorbonne for describing itself on its
website as a “business school”, the EPF engineering school for its sign
“Creating the future together” and Charles de Gaulle airport for using
bilingual signs in French and English.
The
Académie Française, the “official” defenders of the French language founded in
1634 and with 40 members known as “Immortals”, is famous for its long campaign
against the creep of Anglicisms into French.
Its latest
edition of “Dire-ne pas dire” (say-don’t say) list includes dark as in “Dark
Ages” – use “sombre, obscur, inquétant” it says – wishlist, fake, Crazy Monday,
sticker, Trojan horse, mass event, millénial, game, gamer and loser.
Boycotting English: France’s Reaction to a Linguistic
Invasion
Anna Posted
by Anna
November
22, 2013
https://www.languagetrainers.com/blog/boycotting-english-frances-reaction-to-a-linguistic-invasion/
English as
today’s lingua franca can be a double-edged sword; not only does it make it
easier for me personally to travel and communicate with people from different
countries, but it makes it easier for people of all nationalities to do so,
safe in the knowledge that wherever they go, someone somewhere is bound to
speak a little bit of English. However,
this also places the spotlight on the hegemony the English language has over
the rest of the world, bringing with it an un-asked for cultural invasion as
our products, movies, and advertising goes global.
It’s common
knowledge how European countries like Germany and France are using English words
in their own vernacular, ex. le weekend.
In some Middle Eastern countries, Arabic is verging on a second
language, with educated youths switching back and forth in conversation between
English and Arabic (the hybrid language they call Arabizi, a combination of
Arabic and Inglizi). The Politecnico di
Milano, one of Italy’s oldest and most esteemed universities, has declared
that, starting in the fall of 2014, all their graduate-level courses will be
taught solely in English. Scholars and
linguists have argued that diplomacy and international relations are unfairly
balanced toward the English-speaking crowd, and that this causes
misunderstandings, discrimination, and worse.
In France,
a country notoriously proud of their language, organizations for the
preservation of French culture and language are taking up arms against this
English intrusion. Former president
Jacques Chirac once led a walkout of his fellow Frenchmen from an EU summit
after one of them made the social blunder of speaking in English. More recently, the French government has
urged nationals to abandon the use of such English words as email, blog,
hashtag, supermodel, and takeaway in favor of French replacement terms.
Michael
Serres, a French philosopher, is urging his compatriots to take it one step
further and actually boycott all instances of the English language they
see. He states, “There are more English
words on the walls of Toulouse than there were German words during the Occupation,”
and is calling for the French to refuse to buy products advertised in English,
or to go see Hollywood movies that aren’t translated. Many are hailing Serres for championing the
French language in the face of a relentless juggernaut, pointing out that the
flood of English in their country goes even deeper than pop culture. In 1997, 40% of documents at the European
Commission were written in French, while 45% were written in English; last year
those statistics were 11% French and 72% English.
"Prueba
tu Español"...
While many
are dramatically terming the influx of English as an “Anglo-Saxon ploy” and
“planned assassination of the French language,” accusing President Nicolas
Sarkozy as scheming to make France a completely bilingual country, others are
applauding increased use of English as the way of the future. International companies in particular,
knowing that increased use of English will give them an advantage in the
business playing field, are pushing for documents and meetings to be written
and conducted in English.
In my own
personal experience—that being which it’s very rare to meet an educated person
who doesn’t have at least a conversational level of English—I’ve found that
French people of my generation are more likely to speak as their second
language Spanish, German, Italian, anything except English. Is this wave of Anglophobia the last heroic
defense of an endangered cultural identity, or is it backwards thinking in the
light of changing times? (Remember, the
term lingua franca used to be literal.)
Various English-speakers have suggested we could follow suit and cut
French words out of our language: coup, haute couture, malaise, and so on,
engaging in a language war that could lead down many a dark and difficult path.
What do you
think about boycotting a specific language?
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