Écho des études romanes 2015, 11(1):147-159 | DOI: 10.32725/eer.2015.010
L’élégance langagière du hérisson. Le respect de la norme comme révolte dans L’Élégance du hérisson de Muriel BarberyFrench
- Université de Debrecen
Mots clés: Français standard; registres linguistiques; norme; écart stylistique
The elegance of the hedgehog's language. Respect for the norm as revolt in Muriel Barbery's novel The Elegance of the Hedgehog
The paper, a case study in modern French usage and style, deals with the question of the linguistic norm in Muriel Barbery's novel, The Elegance of the Hedgehog (2006). The point is to show how the self-educated main character, Renée Michel, concierge in an elegant Parisian block of flats, refutes the stereotyped image of her social position through her immense culture and her refined usage of French. The study gives a detailed survey of lexical and grammatical forms of usage in various registers of speech in Renée's linguistic performance and concludes with the idea that Renée's deep respect for the norms of standard French is a special form of revolt against the intellectual negligence characterizing the rich inhabitants always ready to show their superiority over her.
Keywords: Standard French usage; registers of speech; norm; stylistic deviation
Published: June 11, 2015 Show citation
References
- BARBERY Muriel (2006), L'élégance du hérisson, Paris, Gallimard.
- BÉDARD Édith, MAURAIS Jacques (éds.) (1983), La norme linguistique, Québec, Conseil de la Langue Française. L'article cité est la version française d'une traduction tchèque-anglais faite par Paul L. Garvin; traductrices : Andrée Thouin et Francine Paradis.
- HAVRÁNEK Bohuslav (1932/1964), The Functional Differentiation of the Standard Language, in : GARVIN Paul L. (éd.), A Prague School Reader on Esthetics, Literary Structure, and Style, Washington, Georgetown University Press, p. 3-16 (traduction de Paul L. Garvin).
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