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Preserving the French Language at the Olympic Games
...Standing up for the little guy?! The Financial Times has an interesting article (registry required) on France's struggle to preserve the status of the French language as one of the major international languages. According to the article, this uphill battle costs the French state, and French taxpayers, some 50 million euros a year (around 75 million dollars); it is exemplified by the considerable effort the French put into keeping their language in use at the Olympics, in addition to Chinese, the host's language, and English, the current international lingua franca. The rather symbolic results of this financing and diplomatic effort is the use of French in formal announcements and signposts at the Olympics. The article's author refers to the actions of the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie (the OIF) and says that "the French counter-argument [to the claim that this whole effort may be futile because the practical need for French is not as obvious as it once was] is that many languages and cultures - not just French - are being overwhelmed by American influence and that Paris is standing up for the little guy." It's funny how the big guys, whenever they find themselves on a losing streak, quickly change their rhetoric and start talking like or on behalf of the little guys. Is it because they start to understand what it must feel like to be the little guy? Or because political force and economic muscle are no longer available tools of achieving prestige? The article's author also quotes a French politics professor saying that the use of French at the Olympics "shows the necessity of cultural diversity." While it makes sense for the French government and the OIF, like similar organizations in many other countries, to promote their language and culture, it's strange, at the very least, to claim that this endeavor is geared toward protection of the world's cultural and linguistic diversity. First, the French language and culture are by no means threatened or endangered, of course. In addition, French has actually had, together with English, Spanish or other languages of powerful nation-states and former colonial powers, a role in diminishing linguistic and cultural diversity, both at home and abroad. This becomes apparent just by looking at the list of countries where French is the official language, or at least one of them. [ZVIEZDANA]
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