Before the modern nation-state became a stable, widespread phenomenon throughout northern Europe, multilingualism-the use of multiple languages in one geographical area-was common throughout the region. This book brings together historians and linguists, who apply their respective analytic tools to offer an interdisciplinary interpretation of the functions of multilingualism in identity-building in the period, and, from that, draw valuable lessons for understanding today''s cosmopolitan societies.

For centuries, French was the language of international commercial and diplomatic relations, a near-dominant language in literature and poetry, and was widely used in teaching. It even became the fashionable language of choice in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries for upper class Dutch, Russians, Italians, Egyptians, and others for personal correspondence, travel journals, and memoirs. This book is the first to take a close look at how French was used in that latter context: outside of France, in personal and private life. It gathers contributions from historians, literary scholars, and linguists and covers a wide range of geographical areas.

For centuries, French was the language of international commercial and diplomatic relations, a near-dominant language in literature and poetry, and was widely used in teaching. It even became the fashionable language of choice in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries for upper class Dutch, Russians, Italians, Egyptians, and others for personal correspondence, travel journals, and memoirs. This book is the first to take a close look at how French was used in that latter context: outside of France, in personal and private life. It gathers contributions from historians, literary scholars, and linguists and covers a wide range of geographical areas.

Before the modern nation-state became a stable, widespread phenomenon throughout northern Europe, multilingualism-the use of multiple languages in one geographical area-was common throughout the region. This book brings together historians and linguists, who apply their respective analytic tools to offer an interdisciplinary interpretation of the functions of multilingualism in identity-building in the period, and, from that, draw valuable lessons for understanding today''s cosmopolitan societies.

For centuries, French was the language of international commercial and diplomatic relations, a near-dominant language in literature and poetry, and was widely used in teaching. It even became the fashionable language of choice in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries for upper class Dutch, Russians, Italians, Egyptians, and others for personal correspondence, travel journals, and memoirs. This book is the first to take a close look at how French was used in that latter context: outside of France, in personal and private life. It gathers contributions from historians, literary scholars, and linguists and covers a wide range of geographical areas.

Before the modern nation-state became a stable, widespread phenomenon throughout northern Europe, multilingualism-the use of multiple languages in one geographical area-was common throughout the region. This book brings together historians and linguists, who apply their respective analytic tools to offer an interdisciplinary interpretation of the functions of multilingualism in identity-building in the period, and, from that, draw valuable lessons for understanding today's cosmopolitan societies.

Dans quelle mesure les changements politiques ont-ils des effets sur la place qu’occupe une langue étrangère dans les pratiques sociales, culturelles et éducatives ? Le contexte socio-culturel dans lequel s’inscrit une langue étrangère est déterminant, tant en ce qui concerne la société cible que la société source. L’étude de l’influence de ces contextes respectifs sur l’image et les pratiques de cette langue forme le cadre de la problématique de ce recueil : “Changements politiques et statut des langues”.L’usage de la langue comme pratique culturelle, la pédagogie de l’apprentissage qui apparaît dans les manuels de langue étrangère et la réflexion savante sur la langue et la didactique sont trois paramètres qui se retrouvent au fil des contributions présentées lors du colloque de la S.I.H.F.L.E.S. (Société Internationale pour l’Histoire du Français Langue Étrangère ou Seconde) qui s’est tenu à l’Université d’Utrecht en décembre 1999. Les effets du politique et des idéologies politiques sur le statut d’une langue étrangère et sur la perception de sa fonction sont étudiés dans cet ouvrage sur une large période allant du XVIIIe au XXe siècles et dans divers pays du Bassin méditerranéen et de l’Europe du Nord, mais aussi dans le contexte de la Francophonie.

For centuries, French was the language of international commercial and diplomatic relations, a near-dominant language in literature and poetry, and was widely used in teaching. This book is the first to take a close look at how French was used outside of France, in personal and private life.

Before the modern nation-state became a stable, widespread phenomenon throughout northern Europe, multilingualism-the use of multiple languages in one geographical area-was common throughout the region. This book brings together historians and linguists, who apply their respective analytic tools to offer an interdisciplinary interpretation of the functions of multilingualism in identity-building in the period, and, from that, draw valuable lessons for understanding today''s cosmopolitan societies.

For centuries, French was the language of international commercial and diplomatic relations, a near-dominant language in literature and poetry, and was widely used in teaching. It even became the fashionable language of choice in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries for upper class Dutch, Russians, Italians, Egyptians, and others for personal correspondence, travel journals, and memoirs. This book is the first to take a close look at how French was used in that latter context: outside of France, in personal and private life. It gathers contributions from historians, literary scholars, and linguists and covers a wide range of geographical areas.

For centuries, French was the language of international commercial and diplomatic relations, a near-dominant language in literature and poetry, and was widely used in teaching. It even became the fashionable language of choice in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries for upper class Dutch, Russians, Italians, Egyptians, and others for personal correspondence, travel journals, and memoirs. This book is the first to take a close look at how French was used in that latter context: outside of France, in personal and private life. It gathers contributions from historians, literary scholars, and linguists and covers a wide range of geographical areas.

Before the modern nation-state became a stable, widespread phenomenon throughout northern Europe, multilingualism-the use of multiple languages in one geographical area-was common throughout the region. This book brings together historians and linguists, who apply their respective analytic tools to offer an interdisciplinary interpretation of the functions of multilingualism in identity-building in the period, and, from that, draw valuable lessons for understanding today''s cosmopolitan societies.

For centuries, French was the language of international commercial and diplomatic relations, a near-dominant language in literature and poetry, and was widely used in teaching. It even became the fashionable language of choice in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries for upper class Dutch, Russians, Italians, Egyptians, and others for personal correspondence, travel journals, and memoirs. This book is the first to take a close look at how French was used in that latter context: outside of France, in personal and private life. It gathers contributions from historians, literary scholars, and linguists and covers a wide range of geographical areas.

Before the modern nation-state became a stable, widespread phenomenon throughout northern Europe, multilingualism-the use of multiple languages in one geographical area-was common throughout the region. This book brings together historians and linguists, who apply their respective analytic tools to offer an interdisciplinary interpretation of the functions of multilingualism in identity-building in the period, and, from that, draw valuable lessons for understanding today's cosmopolitan societies.

Dans quelle mesure les changements politiques ont-ils des effets sur la place qu’occupe une langue étrangère dans les pratiques sociales, culturelles et éducatives ? Le contexte socio-culturel dans lequel s’inscrit une langue étrangère est déterminant, tant en ce qui concerne la société cible que la société source. L’étude de l’influence de ces contextes respectifs sur l’image et les pratiques de cette langue forme le cadre de la problématique de ce recueil : “Changements politiques et statut des langues”.L’usage de la langue comme pratique culturelle, la pédagogie de l’apprentissage qui apparaît dans les manuels de langue étrangère et la réflexion savante sur la langue et la didactique sont trois paramètres qui se retrouvent au fil des contributions présentées lors du colloque de la S.I.H.F.L.E.S. (Société Internationale pour l’Histoire du Français Langue Étrangère ou Seconde) qui s’est tenu à l’Université d’Utrecht en décembre 1999. Les effets du politique et des idéologies politiques sur le statut d’une langue étrangère et sur la perception de sa fonction sont étudiés dans cet ouvrage sur une large période allant du XVIIIe au XXe siècles et dans divers pays du Bassin méditerranéen et de l’Europe du Nord, mais aussi dans le contexte de la Francophonie.

For centuries, French was the language of international commercial and diplomatic relations, a near-dominant language in literature and poetry, and was widely used in teaching. This book is the first to take a close look at how French was used outside of France, in personal and private life.