The description of the museum of the French language – “La Cité internationale de la langue francaise” – on the property of the Renaissance castle Chateau de Villers-Cotteret, is grandiose to say the least. The country’s culture minister Rima Abdul Malak calls the project, which was inaugurated by the country’s president Emmanuel Macron on Monday, “the beating heart of the French-speaking world”, writes AFP.
Macron instead chose to describe the French language as “the basis of our relationship with the outside world” ahead of the opening of the museum.
Struggle against anglicisms
The question of the position of French is also constantly topical in the country – not least for the French Academy, Académie Francaise. In 2022, the society published a report, in which it warned that the language risks being eroded as anglicisms such as “fashionista”, “drive-in” and “hashtag” creep into the language of the French, writes Franceinfo.
— “Greenwashing”, “name-dropping” and “debriefing”. That we abuse these words is abnormal – and above all incomprehensible and unaesthetic, when the French language is so elegant, Jean Pruvost, professor emeritus of the history of the French language, commented on the report, writes TF1 Info.
The choice of location for the new language museum is also symbolic, as it was in Chateau de Villers-Cotterets that in 1539 King Francis I of France signed the decree that made French the country’s official language.
The Aisne has also made a significant contribution to the further development of the language, as it was here that Alexandre Dumas the Elder, author of classics such as “The Count of Montecristo” and “The Three Musketeers”, was born in 1802.
Presidential project
That like Macron, who has been driving the project since 2017, trying to secure his place in future history books in the form of a grand museum project is also not unique to the country’s presidents.
When the Center Georges-Pompidou cultural center opened its doors in Paris in 1977, it was following an initiative by the former French president of the same name. Francois Mitterrand was also a driving force in the controversial construction of a glass pyramid outside the Louvre and in the construction of the Bastille Opera, writes La Croix.