On the
confusion
between the de?
Cult of the Nation in France
12. At least outside of German-speaking Alsace, whose thriving literary societies had recently embraced the Sturm und Drang. Alsace generally constitutes an exception to the French pattern in matters linguistic. See Paul Le? vy, Histoire linguistique d'Alsace et de Lorraine, 2 vols. (Paris, 1929); Bell, "Nation-Build- ing" (see Ch. 2, n. 101).
13. Desgrouais, Les gasconismes corrige? s (Toulouse, 1768, repr. 1812), viii.
14. On Occitan in the eighteenth century, see Henri Boyer, Georges Fournier, et al. , Le texte occitan de la pe? riode re? volutionnaire: Inventaire, approches, lectures (Montpellier, 1989), esp. Philippe Gardy. "Les mode`les d'e? criture: Ruptures et continuite? s" (473-516); Rene? Merle, L'e? criture du provenc? al de 1775 a` 1840, 2 vols. (Beziers, 1990); Philippe Martel, ed. , L'invention du midi: Repre? sentations
276
Notes to Pages 172-173
? 15.
Notes to Pages 172-173
16.
du Sud pendant la pe? riode re? volutionnaire, published as nos. 15-16 of Amiras, repe`res occitans (1987); Genevie`ve Verme`s and Josiane Boutet, eds. , France, pays multilangue, 2 vols. (Paris, 1987); Henri Boyer and Philippe Gardy, eds. , La question linguistique au sud au moment de la Re? volution franc? aise, pub- lished as Lengas: Revue de sociolinguistique, nos. 17-18 (1985); Maurice Agulhon, ed. , La Re? volution ve? cue par la province: Mentalite? s et expressions populaires en Occitanie (Beziers, 1990); Cahiers critiques du patrimoine, no. 2 (1986): Re? volution Contre-Re? volution: Le texte dialectal de la pe? riode re? volutionnaire: Provence, Bas-Languedoc oriental, Dauphine? .
Which languages qualified as patois is not always clear--perhaps inherently so, given the dismissive meaning the word generally carried. Sometimes it covered non-French standard vernaculars, and sometimes not. On the ety- mology of patois, see Jacques Monfrin, "Les parlers en France," in Franc? ois, ed. , La France et les franc? ais (see Intro. , n. 34), 766. On eighteenth-century lin- guistic theory, see most recently Sophia A. Rosenfeld, "A Revolution in Lan- guage: Words, Gestures and the Politics of Signs in France, 1745-1804," Ph. D. diss. , Harvard University (1995).
Obviously, only Romance-based patois could be fit into this particular mold. The best examples of the new attention to local languages are: Claude- Franc? ois Achard, Dictionnaire de la Provence et du comtat Venaissin, 4 vols. (Marseille, 1785), Je? re? mie-Jacques Oberlin, Essai sur le patois lorrain (Stras- bourg, 1775), and, in a more theoretical vein, Antoine Court de Ge? belin, Le Monde primitif analyse? et compare? avec le monde moderne (Paris, 1778). The older attitudes still prevailed in Rivarol's influential De l'universalite? de la langue franc? aise (see Ch. 3, n. 83), esp. 17, and in the Encyclope? die (see Pierre Achard, "Mise en ordre de la langue de raison: L'Etat et le franc? ais," in Max- Peter Gruenais, ed. , Etats de langue: Peut-on penser une politique linguistique? [Paris, 1986], 51-83). On the general phenomenon, see Jacques Revel, "Forms of Expertise: Intellectuals and 'Popular' Culture in France (1650-1800)," in Steven L. Kaplan, ed. , Understanding Popular Culture: Europe from the Middle Ages to the 19th Century (Berlin, 1984), 255-273, and Vovelle, "La de? couverte en Provence" (see Ch. 4, n. 37).
Re? impression de l'ancien Moniteur (see Intro. , n. 3), August 25, 1790, 480. Many other similar examples could be adduced, most strikingly from the de- bates on the annexation of the (largely Occitan-speaking) French papal terri- tories. See Brunot, IX, pt. I, 8.
Hyslop, French Nationalism (see Intro. , n. 22), 47-48.
"Sur l'influence des mots et le pouvoir de l'usage" (see Ch. 5, n. 63), 1813- 1818.
Trois motions inconnues d'un de? pute? Gascon, ou Les Gasconnades patriotiques (n. p. [1789-90]), 22.
17.
18. 19.
20.
21. For a detailed publishing history, see Boyer et al. , Le texte occitan , 149-51.
22. On Sermet's literary abilities, see Timothy Jenkins, "Le pe`re Sermet entre Godolin et l'abbe? Gre? goire," in Christian Anatole, ed. , Pe`ire Godolin, 1580-
1649 (Toulouse, 1980), 215-23.
23. Daniel Bernard, "La re? volution franc? aise et la langue bretonne," Annales de
Bretagne, XXVIII (1912-13), 287-331. The laws mostly dealt with forest
rights and tax collection.
24. Charles-Franc? ois Bouche, La constitution franc? aise, Traduite, conforme? ment
aux Decre? ts de l'Asse? mble? e-nationale-constituante, en langue provenc? ale, et
pre? sente? e a` l'Assemble? e-nationale-le? gislative (Paris, 1792).
25. For instance de Certeau et al. (see Ch. 5, n. 66), 280, for the club of Stras-
bourg; Brunot, IX, pt. I, 66, for the club of Apt; Merle, 295 for the club of Aix; Emile Coornaert, La Flandre franc? aise de langue flamande (Paris, 1969), 266,
for clubs in Flanders.
Notes to Page 173
26. For instance, see Garres, Rasounomens, pensados & refflectious, d'un boun Page`s des embirouns de Toulouso (Toulouse, 1791), 24; Claude Mauron and Franc? ois-Xavier Emmanuelli, eds. , Textes politiques de l'e? poque re? volution- naire en langue provenc? ale (Saint-Re? my-de-Provence, 1986), 41-2, 64-71; Merle, 305; Georges Fournier, "La production toulousaine," in Boyer et al. , Le texte occitan, 391-7. Although nearly all club registers are in French, and rarely refer to linguistic issues, there is evidence that the oral deliberations sometimes took place in the dialect. See for instance Dominique Villar to Gre? goire, 7 Messidor II, Bibliothe`que Nationale de France, Nouvelles Acqui- sitions Franc? aises (hereafter BN, NAF) 2798 (responses to the enque^te de Gre? goire), fol. 70r.
27. Admittedly, this amounted to less than one percent of total revolutionary production. For a general survey of patois literature in the Revolution, see Philippe Martel, "Les textes occitans de la pe? riode re? volutionnaire: Un peu de ge? ographie," in Boyer et al. , 219-223. The Boyer volume contains (42-161) a detailed inventory of the Occitan texts. While some of the texts were appar- ently meant as "burlesque" amusement for French-speaking readers, many were clearly meant for reading aloud to largely illiterate, non-French speak- ing audiences.
28. Brunot, IX, pt. I, 48; Levy, passim. The newspaper, published by a fierce parti- san of the German language named Andreas Ulrich, was entitled Wo? chent- liche Nachrichten fu? r die deutschsprechenden Einwohner Frankreichs, besonders aber fu? r Handwerker und Bauer. Fewer items appeared in other local lan- guages.
29. The Assembly never allocated the necessary resources and personnel. How- ever, officials in what would soon become the Ministry of Justice, unsure of how to proceed, did hire several volunteers (though deferring payment).
Notes to Page 173 277
? 278
Notes to Pages 173-175
? Notes to Pages 173-175
30.
31.
Brunot and other historians of revolutionary linguistic policies, perhaps plac- ing too much faith in the efficacy of revolutionary government, thus argue that the Assembly actively pursued a "politique des traductions. " Yet the ar- chival evidence makes clear that the initiative came almost entirely from without. See Archives Nationales (Paris), AA 32, fols. 7, 15, 22, 24, 31. A vol- unteer named Dugas, an editor on Bare`re's Le point du jour, organized a translation workshop for the Occitan dialects and produced many manu- script volumes, but ministry official found the project unsatisfactory, and the collapse of the monarchy in any case rendered the documents obsolete before they could be printed (AA 32, passim). In 1792, the Convention formed a committee to study translations and confirmed the 1790 decree, but the prac- tical result was again essential nil, although a few repre? sentants en mission did produce bilingual affiches on their own initiative. See Brunot, IX, pt. I, 155- 62; Dentzel, Rapport et projet de de? cret faits au nom de la commission de traduction, par le citoyen Dentzel, de Landau (Paris, 1792).
Local languages were still spoken by the lower classes in many peripheral cit- ies. However, as Mona Ozouf points out, eighteenth-century writers took for granted that cities were a "crucible of homogeneity" and that "only in the countryside did the relationship between men and the land fully express it- self. " Ozouf, L'e? cole de la France (see Ch. 4, n. 37), 29.
Gre? goire's questionnaire is reprinted in de Certeau et al. , Une politique de la langue, 11-28.
On the confusion between the de? crets of the National Assem- bly and de? crets de prise de corps, see Moniteur, February 9, 1790, 336. For later pronouncements by Gre? goire antedating his report to the Convention, see Guillaume, ed. , Proce`s-verbaux du Comite? d'Instruction publique (see Ch. 5, n. 90), II, 177 (July 30, 1793); III, 368 (3 Pluvio^se, II). For a legislative report by Talleyrand that pays attention to language, see Jules Mavidal and Emile Laurent, eds. , Archives parlementaires de 1787 a` 1860, 1st series, 82 vols. (Paris, 1862-1913), XXX, 472 (September 10, 1791). The other major report, by the Girondin Lanthenas, is discussed in Brunot, IX, pt. I, 135. In general, for other legislative activity on language from this period, particularly in the Convention's Comite? d'Instruction, see Brunot, IX, pt. I, 135-48. Among other revolutionary writings addressing the topic are Adresse aux Communes et aux socie? te? s populaires de la Re? publique . . . lue au Conseil Ge? ne? ral de la Commune de Paris (Paris, 1792), 7 (Bibliothe`que de la Socie? te? de Port-Royal, hereafter B. S. P. , Re? v. 223, no. 14); Pierre-Vincent Chalvet, Des qualite? s et des devoirs d'un Instituteur publique (Paris, 1793); the Chronique de Paris of No- vember 10, 1792; the prospectus for the Feuille villageoise, the newspaper aimed explicitly at the peasantry (reprinted in de Certeau et al. , 283-85).
On the continuing need for translation, see de Certeau et al. , 298-99; Gre? goire, in de Certeau et al. , 310. Gre? goire served on the Convention's com-
32.
mittee on translations in 1793, and while in Nice as a repre? sentant en mission, himself had proclamations translated into Italian. See Henri Gre? goire et al. , Egualianza, liberta`. Proclama. I commisari della Convenzione nazionale ai cittadini del dipartimento delle Alpi-Maritimi (Nice, 1793). Even his report on the need to eradicate patois was translated into Italian, by the French govern- ment: Henri Gre? goire, Rapporto sulla necessita` e sui mezzi d'abolire i Dialetti rozzi, e di rendere l'uso della Lingua Francese, universale (Paris, 1794).
33. Bare`re's report is reprinted in de Certeau, et al. , 292-99. Quote from 295.
34. Henri Gre? goire, "Rapport sur la ne? cessite? et les moyens d'ane? antir les patois et d'universaliser l'usage de la langue franc? aise" (1794), reprinted in de
Certeau et al. , 300-317.
35. Ibid. , 301, 316.
36. Alphonse Aulard, Actes du Comite? de Salut Publique, XIII (Paris, 1900), 105;
Brunot, IX, pt. I, 186. The Jacobin Prieur de la Co^te d'Or delivered another scathing address on the subject entitled Adresse de la Convention Nationale au Peuple Franc? ais. 16 Prairial II (B. S. P. , Re? v. 223, no. 13).
37. F. C. Heitz, ed. , Les socie? te? s populaires de Strasbourg pendant les anne? es 1790 a` 1793: Extraits de leurs proce`s-verbaux (Strasbourg, 1863), 252 and 346; Le? vy, II, 22; R. R. Palmer, Twelve Who Ruled (Princeton, 1941), 190; Michel Brunet, Le Roussillon: Une socie? te? contre l'e? tat, 1780-1820 (Perpignan, 1990), 521. The principal evidence for a linguistic terror in Provence is effectively dismissed
by Merle, 369-71.
Notes to Pages 175-177
38. Heitz, 64-5.
39. On these issues see Rosenfeld, "A Revolution in Language," 172-258.
40. Bare`re, in de Certeau et al. , 291-2.
41. Gre? goire, in de Certeau et al. , 314.
42. See Weber, Peasants into Frenchmen (see Intro. , n. 28), 67-94, 312-13; Jean-
Franc? ois Chanet, L'e? cole re? publicaine et les petites patries (Paris, 1996), 203-
41.
43. See, for instance, Brunot, IX, pt. I; Weber, Peasants into Frenchmen, 67-94;
Renzi, La politica linguistica (see Intro. , n. 63); R. D. Grillo, Dominant Lan- guages: Language and Hierarchy in Britain and France (Cambridge, 1989). The literature on revolutionary language policies is immense. For summaries, see an earlier version of this chapter: David A. Bell, "Lingua Populi, Lingua Dei: Language, Religion and the Origins of French Revolutionary Nationalism," American Historical Review, C/5 (1995), 1403-37, esp. nn. 9, 32, and 43. Sub- sequent works include Rosenfeld, "A Revolution in Language"; Sophia A. Rosenfeld, "Universal Languages and National Consciousness during the French Revolution," in David A. Bell et al. , eds. , Raison universelle et culture nationale au sie`cle des lumie`res (Paris, 1999), 119-34; Brigitte Schlieben- Lange, Ide? ologie, Re? volution, et uniformite? de la langue (Lie`ge, 1996).
Notes to Pages 175-177 279
? 280
Notes to Pages 178-180
? 44.
45. 46.
47. 48. 49.
50.
51.
Notes to Pages 178-180
52. 53.
54.
55. 56.
57.
58.
Dentzel, Rapport, 2; Gre? goire cited in de Certeau et al. , 21; cited in Brunot, IX, pt. I, 142; Gre? goire in Gazier, Lettres (see Intro. , n. 70), 293.
Gre? goire, in de Certeau et al. , 302.
To quote his report: "The vigorous accent of liberty and equality is the same, whether it comes out of the mouth of an inhabitant of the Alps or the Vosges, the Pyrenees or the Cantal, Mont-Blanc or Mont-Terrible. " Bare`re, in de Certeau et al. , 291.
Quoted in Wahnich, L'impossible citoyen (see Intro. , n. 33), 59.
Re? impression de l'ancien Moniteur, February 9, 1790, 336-37.
For the most recent studies of the disturbances, see Jean Boutier, Campagnes en e? moi: Re? voltes et Re? volution en Bas-Limousin, 1789-1800 (Treignac, 1987), and John Markoff, The Abolition of Feudalism: Peasants, Lords and Legislators in the French Revolution (University Park, Penn. , 1996), esp. 203-426, 542-47. Boutier barely mentions the language issue and does not consider it an important cause of the revolts (see esp. 263-66). Markoff raises it only in passing, on 342. The reports of the deputies on the riots can be found in Re? impression de l'ancien Moniteur, February 9, 1790, 336-39.
Claire Asselin and Anne McLaughlin, in "Patois ou franc? ais la langue de la Nouvelle France au dix-septie`me sie`cle," Langage et socie? te? , 17 (1981), 3-57. Yves Castan, "Les languedociens du 18e sie`cle et l'obstacle de la langue e? crite," 96e Congre`s national des Socie? te? s savantes, Toulouse, 1971: Section d'histoire moderne et contemporaine (Paris, 1976), I, 73-84.
Gre? goire is notably the most important eighteenth-century source for Weber's chapter on language in Peasants into Frenchmen, 67-94.
On these points see Louis-Jean Chalvet, La sociolinguistique (Paris, 1993); Pi- erre Bourdieu, Language and Symbolic Power, Gino Raymond and Matthew Adamson, trans. (Oxford, 1991).
See the works of Robert Lafont, beginning with Lettre ouverte aux Franc? ais d'un Occitan (Paris, 1973). As Maryon MacDonald has noted in "We Are Not French! " (see Intro. , n. 27), regionalist militants generally try to make their languages sound as un-French as possible.
Weber, 3-22.
Consider Weber, p. 76, where he quotes from "teachers and school inspec- tors" who "furnish useful information" in the 1870s. Might these teachers and inspectors have consciously or unconsciously exaggerated the height of the linguistic barriers between them and their pupils? See Lehning, Peasant and French, esp 144-45, and Ford, Creating the Nation (see Intro.
