Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures
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This digital collection includes theses and dissertations from the Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures. Due to departmental name changes, materials from the following historical department are also included here: Foreign Languages, Foreign Languages and Literatures.
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Browsing Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures by Author "Browne, Katherine E., 1953-, committee member"
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Item Open Access La crise de la Francite: une critique de la langue Francaise, l'etat et l'identite nationale a travers les siecles(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2010) Passie, Kris Allen, author; Vogl, Mary B., 1967-, advisor; Malpezzi-Price, Paola, 1948-, committee member; Browne, Katherine E., 1953-, committee memberThis paper deals with the contemporary issues related to French national identity and suggests that they have reached a socio-cultural crisis. It traces the development of French nationalism and the factors that have determined it over the course of the past four centuries. Through an historical lens, the findings suggest that the fortification and increased centralization of the State apparatus coupled with carefully orchestrated state-sanctioned programs pointed at language development have largely been responsible for the construction of the contemporary French nation state entity, its value structure and assertions of uniqueness and singularity. The study follows the historical trajectory of France as it became an icon of the modern era through its leading role in the Enlightenment, its colonial pursuits and domestic nation building efforts. Taking the position that the present can only be understood by a thorough unearthing of the past, this paper holds that current socio-cultural problems in France related to immigration, regional identities and assertions of a threatened national culture are best understood through a holistic archeology of the French national entity.Item Open Access Les identités françaises selon la langue(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2010) Yambor, Jenna, author; Groim, Frédérique, advisor; Malpezzi Price, Paola, 1948-, committee member; Browne, Katherine E., 1953-, committee memberFrance is currently in a period of transition of international government, population, technology and language. Partly because French identities are strongly based on the language, a national identity crisis is occurring that has the country in a state of confusion as to its place in the world. But defining "identity" is a difficult task when it comes to an entire country. It is easier to see what French identity is not, by way of exclusion, than it is to say who and what it means to be French. The French language has long been a cultural cornerstone, specifically since the French Revolution when it took its place as the national language. Since then, the language has been a symbol of perfection and purity among French citizens and Francophiles with laws and committees that exist to protect it from invasive words and grammar changes. But in giving this title to the French language, many groups of people were excluded from the national identity, namely those that did not speak French at the time, which was a large percentage of the country's population. In addition, grammarians, writers, lexicographers, salonnières and more recently young immigrants have used language in order to exclude large groups of people from their perspective identity groups. In changing and defining the French language, these groups have made their own identities stronger while also excluding others from access to their worlds. This thesis is based on the idea that identities are defined by who are not included in particular French linguistic groups and therefore those excluded from holding a place within those identities. In order to understand where this idea originated and how it works, the history of the complicated French orthography is discussed. The preciosity of French salons, another linguistic identity, is also discussed which contrasts the current linguistic opposition of verlan which is having a huge effect on the French language and French identities today.