Abstract: The “fin-de-siècle” in France is pervaded by a particular concern about the future of the French language, which Remy de Gourmont echoes in several texts and articles (notably Esthétique de la langue française, La Destinée des langues and L’Influence étrangère). He identifies internal threats, those of academics and primary schools accused of killing the language and of stifling the creative impulse expressed in fruitful deformations. He also mentions external threats, demonstrating on this occasion a virulent linguistic xenophobia ...
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