Prev NEXT

How French Traditions Work

French Culture:Adherence to Tradition

A pervasive stereotype of the French is their disdain at foreigners butchering their beautiful language. Like any stereotype, this is certainly not unequivocally true, but it does point to the pride the French have about the purity of their culture.

L'Academie Francaise is an organization devoted to "watching over" the French language and carefully monitoring changes in the French dictionary. Established in 1635, the organization has put out nine editions of the comprehensive French language dictionary in the past four centuries [source: L'Academie Francaise].

Advertisement

What's the point, you may ask? (And please be sure to correctly conjugate if you're asking in French, lest the L'Academie Francaise give you a frown.) L'Academie Francaise does not exist solely to mark your papers with red pen; it was established to show unity in French society at the time. Not only were speakers confronted with different dialects, but a universal vocabulary across the arts and sciences was also in demand.

And the Academie has remained strict. In 2006, a French subsidiary of an American company was fined roughly $650,000 for providing English-only software to employees [source: Allen].

As for the French attitude toward the Academie, French cultural attaché Denis Bisson says the strict organization inspires mixed feelings. "They often make jokes about the Académie, but at the same time they respect it, and if it was to disappear, I'm sure the majority would be up in arms to protect it," Bisson says.

For a culture as varied and old as the French one, there's always more to be discovered. Visit the next page to find out lots more about France.

Related Articles

Sources

  • Badiou, Alain. "The Adventure of French Philosophy." New Left Review. Vol. 35. September-October 2005.
  • Barlosius, Eva. "France." The Cambridge World History of Food, Vol. 2. Cambridge University Press. 2000.
  • Bisson, Denis. Personal correspondence. August 5, 2011.
  • Broughton, Philip Delves. "Hats off as traditional beret fades out of French fashion." The Telegraph. August 2, 2002. (August 4, 2011) http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/1403382/Hats-off-as-traditional-beret-fades-out-of-French-fashion.html
  • Chapuis, Julien. "Gothic Art". In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. Metropolitan Museum of Art. 2002. (August 4, 2011) http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/mgot/hd_mgot.html
  • Crowell, Steven. "Existentialism." The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. October 11, 2010. (August 4, 2011) http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/existentialism/
  • Dirks, Tim. "The History of Cinema before 1920." AMC Filmsite. 2011. (August 4, 2011) http://www.filmsite.org/pre20sintro2.html
  • Dirks, Tim. "Film Noir." AMC Filmsite. 2011. (August 4, 2011) http://www.filmsite.org/filmnoir.html
  • Embassy of France in Washington. "French Christmas Customs." November 27, 2007. (August 4, 2011) http://ambafrance-us.org/spip.php?article557
  • Encyclopaedia Britannica Online. "Auteur theory." 2011. (August 4, 2011) http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/44609/auteur-theory
  • Encyclopaedia Britannica Online Library Edition. "France." 2011. (August 4, 2011) http://www.library.eb.com/eb/article-41181
  • Fraser, Laura. "The French Paradox." Salon.com. February 4, 2000. (August 4, 2011) http://www.salon.com/travel/food/feature/2000/02/04/paradox
  • Global Gourmet. "France: Background and History." January 2007. (August 4, 2011) http://www.globalgourmet.com/destinations/france/franceback.html#axzz1TQqkosSI
  • Ibiblio. "Impressionism." June 19, 2006. (August 4, 2011) http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/glo/impressionism/
  • Kritzman, Lawrence; Reilly, Brian J.; Deevoise, M. B. "The Columbia history of twentieth-century thought." Columbia University Press. 2006.
  • L'Academie Francaise. "L'histoire." (August 4, 2011) http://www.academie-francaise.fr/histoire/index.html
  • Lawrence, Cameron. "How Parkour Works." HowStuffWorks.com. (August 11, 2011) https://adventure.howstuffworks.com/outdoor-activities/urban-sports/parkour1.htm
  • Lascaux. "Lascaux." (August 4, 2011) http://www.lascaux.culture.fr/#/en/04_00.xml
  • Leung, Rebecca. "France: Less Work, More Time Off." CBS News. February 11, 2009. (August 4, 2011) http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/06/27/60II/main704571.shtml
  • Moffat, Charles. "French Impressionism." The Lillith Gallery of Toronto. 2007. (August 4, 2011) http://www.lilithgallery.com/arthistory/impressionism/French-Impressionism.html
  • Peabody, Sally. " French Easter Celebrations Ring In With Flying Bells, Bunnies and Chocolate Fish." Chocolate Atlas. (August 4, 2011) http://www.chocolateatlas.com/L2PFav/53Peabody_Easter/French_Easter_Celebrations.html
  • Professional Friends of Wine. "Appellation d'Origine Controlee." January 8, 2005. (August 4, 2011) http://www.winepros.org/wine101/vincyc-aoc.htm
  • ProQuest. "CultureGrams Online Edition:France." 2011. (August 4, 2011) http://online.culturegrams.com.ezproxy.spl.org:2048/secure/world/world_country.php?contid=5&wmn=Europe&cid=55&cn=France
  • Pulver, Andrew. "A short history of French cinema." The Guardian. March 22, 2011. (August 4, 2011) http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2011/mar/22/french-cinema-short-history
  • Redon, Odile; Sabban, Francoise; Serventi, Silvano. "The Medieval Kitchen." University of Chicago Press. 1998.
  • Samu, Margaret. "Impressionism: Art and Modernity." In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. Metropolitan Museum of Art. 2004. (August 4, 2011) http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/imml/hd_imml.htm
  • Sayare, Scott. "Unesco Hails French Food, Oil Wrestling and Flamenco." November 17, 2010. (August 4, 2011) http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/17/world/17unesco.html
  • Sciolino, Elaine, "Time to Save the Croissants." The New York Times. September 28, 2008. (August 4, 2011) http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/24/dining/24heritage.html?scp=3&sq=french%20culinary%20traditions&st=cse
  • St. Nicholas Center. "France." 2011. (August 4, 2011) http://www.stnicholascenter.org/pages/france/
  • Steele, Ross. "The French Way: the keys to the behavior, attitudes, and customs of the French." McGraw-Hill Professional. 2006.
  • Stimmler-Hall, Heather. "Absinthe: The Myth and the Reality." Rick Steves' Europe. (August 4, 2011) http://www.ricksteves.com/plan/destinations/france/absinthe.htm
  • Tedesco, Laura Anne. "Lascaux (ca. 15,000 B.C.)." In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. Metropolitan Museum of Art. 2007. (August 4, 2011) http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/lasc/hd_lasc.htm
  • Tourisme Alsace. "Traditional Costumes."(August 4, 2011) http://www.tourisme-alsace.com/en/alsace-regional-identity/costumes-alsace.html
  • University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Department of Romance Languages. "French Art History." (August 4, 2011) http://www.uncg.edu/rom/courses/dafein/civ/art.htm
  • U.S. Department of State. "Background Note: France." May 27, 2011. (August 4, 2011) http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/3842.htm
  • Wyatt, Caroline. "French headscarf ban opens rifts." BBC News. February 11, 2004. (August 4, 2011) http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/3478895.stm
Citation