Shaping Language Policy in France. Official Sphere: 8-18th Centuries Legislative Documents (Capitulary, Ordinance, Letters Patent)

Abstract

The paper looks into historic processes of developing and establishing the state policy of France in the sphere of language, education and culture, reflected in such genres of regulatory documents as capitulary, ordinance, and letters patent. The focus is made on three royal documents, namely the capitulary of Charlemagne “Letter on Promotion of Literary Culture” (“Epistola de litteris colendis”, 787), the ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts (“Ordonnance de Villers-Cotterêts”, 1539), issued by Francis I, king of France, and letters patent of Louis XIV, regulating the activities of publishing houses (“Lettres patentes et arrêt du conseil d’État du Roi portant règlement pour la librairie”, 1702). The study aims to reveal formal and content-related features of regulatory documents of the historic period under consideration. Another purpose is to identify the degree of their variability and similarity. The main methods employed in the research were textual and interpretative types of analysis. The fact that the documents compiled on behalf of French monarchs made the focus of our research defines its novelty. The findings showed that this documentation evidences the dawn and further shaping of the French national language, cultural and educational policy. The authors show that these institutional genres were designed to strengthen the royal power in France during the period between the 8th and 18th centuries. From linguistic perspective these documents are a formidable example of how the “discourse of power” emerged and got streamlined.