French Language
Because France
was once a strong colonial power, many countries in Africa and
Indochina still use French as an
official language. Since 1986, French speaking
countries have come together in a grouping called La
Francophonie
(lah fran-ko-fo-NEE) to discuss world
problems. This group of countries makes up 18 percent of the
world
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economy and accounts for more than $100 billion in trade
annually. About 250 million people speak French
worldwide.
Troubadours
Troubadours were the first to use words to entertain others. Starting in the twelfth century, these traveling
storytellers moved from one town square to another, narrating beautiful stories of love and adventure.
Literature was born in the Middle Ages when the epic stories were first recorded in manuscript form.
The Romance of the Rose and The Song of Roland were well known.
French is a language that shares its roots with Italian,
Spanish, Portuguese, and Romanian. It is derived from the Latin
spoken by the Romans who conquered Gaul in 52 B.C. Prior to
the Roman invasion, the people spoke Celtic languages. Today,
only some people in Brittany still know Celtic.
The French is characterized by flowing
intonations and a more complex grammatical structure than English.
The guardian of the language is the Academie Francaise. Founded
in 1635 by Cardinal de Richelieu, one of the greatest prime
ministers in French history, the Academie is
made up of forty members called "immortals." They are chosen
for life from the country's leading writers, scientists, lawyers,
and military leaders. The Academie meets once a week to discuss
ways to preserve the purity of the language
and to work toward making it the most glorious language in the
world. Their main task is to write and edit the Dictionary of
the French Academy. Despite their valiant efforts,
other languages have influenced French, especially English.
Words such as weekend, marketing, business, jogging, stress,
and interview have all made it into everyday French conversations
as well into written French. Many more words, however, have
made their way from French into English. Some English words
borrowed from French are: royal, chic, nouveau riche, gourmet,
rendezvous, and cuisine.
Literature
The first great writer in France was Francois Rabelais, a Renaissance man. His Gargantua and Pantagruel have
been translated into several languages and are still widely read today. Gargantua tells the story of a giant
baby who ate enormous amounts of food. The English adjective "gargantuan," meaning a huge quantity, is derived
from the name of the baby, Gargantua.
During the reign of Louis XIV, playwrights were popular, and Jean-Baptiste Moliere, Pierre Corneille, and Jean
Racine became famous. Moliere wrote comedies; Corneille and Racine wrote tragedies.
In more recent times, French writers such as Victor Hugo, Alexandre Dumas (The Three Musketeers),
Marcel Proust (Remembrance of Things Past), Jean Paul Sartre (Human Being and Nothingness), and
Albert Camus (The Alien) have brought new ideas to the French literary scene.
Women writers, previously overshadowed by men, are now gaining recognition. Among contemporary women writers,
Simone de Beauvoir stands out for her definitive feminist work, The Second Sex. Marguerite Duras,
Marguerite Yourcenar, Francoise Sagan, and Helene Cixous are other women whose writings have earned
them great critical acclaim.
Extract from “Countries Of The World France”, Written by Roseline Ngcheong-Lum. Times Edition Pte Ltd. Singapore, 1999.
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