This volume examines the use of French in European language communities outside France from the Middle Ages to the twentieth century. The phenomenon of French language usage is explored in a wide variety of communities, namely Bohemian, Dutch, medieval English, German (Prussian), Italian, Piedmontese, Polish, Romanian, Russian, Spanish, Swedish and Turkish. Each chapter offers unique insight into the existence of francophonie in a given language community by providing illustrations of language usage and detailed descriptions of various aspects of it. The volume as a whole explores such sociolinguistic matters as bilingualism and multilingualism, the use of French as a lingua franca and prestige language, language choice and code-switching, variations in language usage depending on class or gender, language attitudes and language education. The sociohistorical and sociocultural matters considered include the association of a variety of language with the court, nobility or some other social group; the function of French as a vehicle for the transmission of foreign cultures; and the role of language in the formation of identity of various kinds (national, social and personal).

-- With support from the Arts and Humanities Research Council of the UK and the Deutsches Historisches Institut Moskau -- The French Language in Russia provides the fullest examination and discussion to date of the adoption of the French language by the elites of imperial Russia during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. It is interdisciplinary, approaching its subject from the angles of various kinds of history and historical sociolinguistics. Beyond its bearing on some of the grand narratives of Russian thought and literature, this book may afford more general insight into the social, political, cultural, and literary implications and effects of bilingualism in a speech community over a long period. It should also enlarge understanding of francophonie as a pan-European phenomenon. On the broadest plane, it has significance in an age of unprecedented global connectivity, for it invites us to look beyond the experience of a single nation and the social groups and individuals within it in order to discover how languages and the cultures and narratives associated with them have been shared across national boundaries.

This book examines the functions of French in various spheres, domains and genres. This is the first volume of a two volume set which explores the profound impact of the French language and culture on Russian high society and consciousness in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Volume 1 provides insights into the development of the practice of speaking and writing French at the Russian court and among the Russian nobility from the mid eighteenth century to the mid nineteenth century, after which the circle of Russians who continued to use French in Russia was narrower. In the process, readers will be introduced to a wide range of types of text. They will also encounter examples of the impact of the French language on Russian and will reflect on the practice of code switching and the distinction between bilingualism and diglossia. It deepens our understanding of the process by which Russia was integrated into the mainstream of modern European civilisation. It contributes to knowledge of the development of national self consciousness in Russia. It extends awareness of the importance of francophonie in European culture, especially during the age of the Enlightenment and the Romantic age. It provides an in depth example of the social and cultural effects of major language contact. It introduces readers to the discussion of the positive and negative effects of bilingualism or multilingualism and biculturalism or multiculturalism.

This book explores how knowledge of French helped shape Russian identities and their views on the Russian language. This is the second volume in a two volume set which explores the profound impact of the French language and culture on Russian high society and consciousness in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Volume 2 provides insights into the ways in which bilingualism was negotiated at court and among the cosmopolitan high nobility in Imperial Russia in the Age of Enlightenment and the subsequent Romantic age, when cultural nationalists began to associate national essence with the monolingual peasantry. It discusses the linguistic means by which Russian social, political and cultural identities began to be created and explores the part played by foreign language use in stimulating the enrichment and standardisation of the Russian vernacular and in encouraging the development of a firm sense of national identity and early Russian nationalism. It deepens our understanding of the process by which Russia was integrated into the mainstream of modern European civilisation. It contributes to knowledge of the development of national self consciousness in Russia. It extends awareness of the importance of francophonie in European culture, especially during the age of the Enlightenment and the Romantic age. It provides an in depth example of the social and cultural effects of major language contact. It also introduces readers to the discussion of the positive and negative effects of bilingualism or multilingualism and biculturalism or multiculturalism.