Images of English in the French Press 20/04/2012 Marc.Deneire@univ- lorraine.fr www.atilf.fr
Why the press? Opinion papers: information and political commentaries: influences opinion, or reflects readerships opinion. Dialectic relation. Regional press: miscellaneous local events (faits divers) and «gossip» (potins) Magazines: extensive readership. More in depth analysis in some but also popular press.
Outline Part 1: Global analysis The corpus Methodology Results Part 2: Detailed analysis Facets of English Facets of French
Readership in 2011: daily newspapers: National and Regional
Readership: National Newspapers
Readership: Education, social class and profession National newspapers : managers and middle managers, + Parisian, + public sector and large companies National magazines: Women and youth Regional newspapers: No difference based on level of education. Importance of regional factors (more in certain regions). Workers + farmers + older people over-represented. Private sector and SMEs: Le Figaro and economic news papers and magazines (economic capital) Public sector + intellectual professions (teaching): (cultural capital): Le Monde, Libération
The Corpus (around 1000 articles; 1832 pages ; 831 thousand words) Selection: keywords «anglais»+ «français» + «langue» in National newspapers - General Le Monde, Le Monde Diplomatique, Le figaro, Libération, l Humanité. Economic/business newspapers La Tribune, Les Echos, Informatique, L Expansion National magazines Le point, L express, Marianne Regional newspapers Le Télégramme, La Nouvelle République du Centre Ouest, Ouest-France, Paris-Normandie, l Est Républicain, etc
General analysis: Hyperbase and Alceste Lexical distance (Hyperbase) Descending hierarchical classification (Alceste) Factor Analysis of Correspondences (Hyperbase)
Global results: relations based on lexical distance (Hyperbase)
«Discourse worlds» based on descending hierarchical analysis (Alceste) Corpus General press Economic and Regional Class 1: cultural poli=cs 33.7% Class 5: Music and literature 30.71 Economic press Class 4: Regional press 17.52 Class 2+ Economic strategies 8.7% Class 3+ Human resources 9.53
Factor analysis: terms + publications Class 4 Classes 2 and 3 Classes 1 and 5
L anglais est devenu (English has become) prerequisite to find a job (Figaro)... the corporate language in many companies (Figaro) the language of science and publication (Figaro) the sole vehicle for scientific thought in the world (Le Monde) the symbol of internationalism (Figaro) the language of communication (Le Monde) the language of the EU (Le Monde, Le point) la langue du cool and of mainstream American culture (Le point) the indispensable language for any European citizen (Est) the vernacular language today s Latin (Expansion)
«Inner» qualities of English «English is the language of business. Using it makes us sound more credible, more offensive, especially in marketing» «Chris Viehbacher (CEO Sanofi-Avensis) speaks the language of the financial community and attempts to erase the franco-french image of the company» Entre-temps, bien sûr, l'anglais s'impose peu à peu. C'est vrai dans les domaines déjà fortement américanisés que sont les sciences hard, la médecine soft, l'écologie green, l'alimentation light, mais aussi l'entertainment avec ses pitches, l'information avec ses lives, le business avec ces CEO, sans parler de tout le domaine d'internet où la langue anglaise est constamment réinventée par les geeks et autres nerds.
But Foreign languages (i.e. English) generate «stress and insecurity», «mental fatigue», «possible discrimination in career evolution and in recruiting» and «costs in training» An intranet site in English (Areva) «generates additional stress because it takes more time to read and understand» «Stress can be assimilated to a new form of slavery» «The stress generated by this measure (adoption of English) initially had negative consequences on the productivity of a number of employees» On education in Korea: «English is turning infancy into hell»
A «Qu on le veuille ou non» It s the clay pot against the iron pot. We are expected to be European, and therefore to speak English as it is the sole idiom of the new Europe. Whether we want it or not, soft power now speaks English (about music) Whether we want it or not, whether it pleases us or not, English is now the common language (langue véhiculaire) of the business world. English has become, the esperanto of the planet.
Not «la langue de Shakespeare», but GLOBISH A universal gibberish that allows everyone to produce his/her own mistakes/errors. That disgracious globish that is being brayed all over the globalized world The English language, or its empoverished version, the famous globish, to the detriment of the monopoly of business globish
«Sabir» (pidgin): Americanization The harm does not come from English, but from the American-like «sabir» This kind of soft rubber american-like thing that contaminates the language. What exasperates me is that the French crawl to that American Sabir The «sabir» has always exerted a beguiling charm among the colonized because it pulls the wool over their eyes. Ours is no exception. French administrations are forced to work using this «sabir» for «European coordination», to bend to the Commission s obstinate americanophonia.
Trojan horse/ Perfidious Albion The EU of six with four languages, of which French was a working language, became, after 20 years, in 1973, the EU of nine where English, the trojan horse of American influence His success «Dance» makes us forget that since «Je t aime moi non plus» the francophonie never managed to break into Albion Concerning M. Serres: «Returning from 10 trips, here is what he sees: more English words on the walls of our cities or in the headlines of our newspapers than German during the occupation» To spread words What Americans call «soft power.» A power that is no longer based on arms, but on «meanings» which Americans noticed were more effective than physical confrontation.
Images of French Its traditional calling, ever more precious in the global market of a language of conversation, civil and hospitable among the non-businessed and the non-specialists. The opposition is between a language, English, that privileges concrete and detailed observation, and another, French, which generalizes on the basis of particular cases and privileges logical articulations (Hagège). The French language is not an object, it is a passion. It is a besieged fortress, a beauty that is being butchered, a purity that is being polluted.
Images of French Images of the clarity of the French language (Rivarol), richness of vocabulary and concision (Valéry) and moral righteousness (E. Renan) have been abandoned. The only chance for the future of French is multilingualism and the preservation of diversity. Chamoiseau: «Le français sera puissant et magnifique là où toutes langues seront puissantes et magnifiques».
Conclusion Language questions are heavily present in the national press but not in the regional press Commentaries are dominated by a small conservative elite (Hagège, Duneton, Fumaroli) whose positions are often uncritically accepted. The regional press is mainly concerned with education (exchanges, mergers, etc.) Economic press expresses a sense enthousiasm (rarely), of fatality, and caution.
CODA