A problematic term and/or a disturbing reality

Often dubious or allergic, even downright negative, the reactions to the word “Francophone”, a term whose meaning is nevertheless clear, do not fail to raise questions. They are particularly strong in the literary field where more and more Francophone literatures are developing, the emergence, study and recognition of which always come up against resistance without equal in other linguistic areas resulting from European colonization. The explanation lies at the very heart of the History of France and of the Franco-French structures for apprehending the world – particularly through the place and the conception of the language and literature that signify it – what the author calls the French ideology. The effects of Parisian editorial centralism, unique in the world, are also studied, as well as the contrasting consequences of the political use made of the French language and its supposed universality. Diverse historical strata and contemporary contradictions are meticulously analysed, as well as the obstacles to considering and building a plural Franco-Francophone space. What the rejection of the word “Francophone” refers to is the realities that it designates and forces us to recognize fundamentally. They call into question a habitus.

Franco...who? Franco...what? Lexical considerations at beginner level or some provocative questions without definitive answers

“Francophones”, “francographes”, “francophiles”, “francophobes”... What an extraordinary word-formation richness! Not to mention similar words, more complicated and difficult to translate : “francology” (scientific discipline), “francité” (“frenchness”), “francogène” (“of francophone origin”). Although they all contain the same prefix “franco-”, all these concepts introduce a sense of inconsistency: for some of them refer to the world of francophony, while others are closely related only to France or its inhabitants. Why? Is it correct and fair? What good/bad comes from this confusion? This is an issue that the author ponders on, without giving obvious answers, but rather provoking to pose further disturbing questions about the identity of contemporary and future francophony.

Bataille de Kirholm by Henri Krasiński and the transnational Polish-French historical novel in the Romantic era

The author of the article proposes an interpretation of the novel Bataille de Kirholm by Henri Krasiński through the notions of francophony, migration and transnationalism. He analyzes the authorial posture adopted by the writer, based on his migrant status, but also the poetics of his text, based on the transposition into French of Polish historical, cultural and linguistic elements. He thus intends to underline the interest of a little-known literary phenomenon, that of historical novels with Polish subject, published in the Romantic era by French-speaking Polish authors.

The Baudelairean modernity and its environs

The following text takes up the problem of modernity in its canonical formulation proposed in 1863 by Charles Baudelaire in his important essay entitled Le peintre de la vie moderne. The author of the article tries to show the basic framework of this concept with the definition of modernity itself and the category of beauty, remaining at Baudelaire’s conception in natural connection with it. The author highlights the importance of Baudelaire’s earlier views and the influence that the Paris World Exhibition of 1855 had on him.

From Rodenbach’s novel Bruges-la-morte to the opera Die Tote Stadt directed by Treliński: Sketch of a multilateral cultural transfer

This article analyses the multilateral dynamics of the cultural transfer phenomenon that leads from Bruges-la-morte novel by Georges Rodenbach to Mariusz Treliński’s staging of the opera Die Tote Stadt, by examining the mediators of the transfer, the exporting and receiving contexts, the appropriations and the rejections, to use the methodology of cultural transfers (Joyeux-Prunel 2003). The comparative analysis of the translations of the libretto and the Warsaw and Brussels stagings of the opera, as well as its Polish and Belgian reception, will shed light on the mechanisms of appropriation and re-semantisation of the work.

* L’autrice aa bénéficié pour cette étude d’un financement octroyé par l’Agence nationale polonaise pour les échanges universitaires (The project co-financed by the Polish National Agency for Academic Exchange).

The reports of the “Strapontin volant” as an example of world literature in the French language. The case of Leon Kochnitzky

This article focuses on the journalistic work of Léon Kochnitzky, who illustrates what has been called “Francophone literature” or more broadly, world literature in French. Our aim is to show that the reportages of this Belgian writer-traveler represent a unique dialogue between creativity and critical reflection, that his often poetic but also humorous chronicles are an excellent contribution to Francophonie. The landscapes he creates, through which cultures communicate with each other, will remind us that poetry lives from its openness to the world and history, and that the interaction between poet, world, and word is an excellent opportunity for mutual enrichment.

* L’auteure bénéficie d’un financement octroyé par l’Agence polonaise pour les échanges universitaires.

“The flipside of an error”: The case of Amos or False Hopes by Anna Langfus

The current article is a preliminary sketch of the study of recurring motives found in the dramatic works of Anna Langfus. After a short presentation of the profile of the writer and the role of the theater in her life, we look into an unpublished play Amos ou les fausses espérances / Amos or False Hopes (1961). The concept of “patterns of transitivity”, proposed by Jean-Pierre Richard in Onze études sur la poésie moderne / Eleven Studies on Modern Poetry, is guiding our reading of Langfus’ play in this context.

Some notes on the writing of Assia Djebar (woman, history, memory and language)

The works of Assia Djebar, a French-speaking Algerian writer (1936‒2015), are a battlefield for the preservation of the history of Algeria, as well as the struggle for the emancipation of Islamic women, for the cultural diversity of Algeria and for liberation from the terror of fundamentalists.

In this article, we would like to show the extent to which Djebar’s writing is inscribed in the memory, history and present day of Algeria, where women are the guardians of the past and the native language, and the language of the former colonizer is an achievement that allows to convey and preserve the deepest layers of collective memory.

Exchanges between writers in the French-speaking world. The case of the correspondence between Leopold S. Senghor and Roger Brien (1967−1980)

This article proposes to study the unpublished and very little known correspondence between Léopold S. Senghor and a Quebec poet, Roger Brien. Our study mainly concerns the way in which Brien forges links with the president of Senegal. The relation Senghor-Brien (its conditions, issues and modalities) is analysed from the point of view of the Canadian poet. By consulting Brien’s letters, we discover three major issues that are organized around his poetic work: the recognition, the dissemination and the publication of his literary works. Highlighting these questions allow us to better understand the functioning and the dynamism of this unexplored relation between the two writers.

Matéi Visniec ‒ at the crossroads of two cultures

The aim of this article is to present the evolution of poetics in the dramatic work of Matéi Visniec, a French-speaking Romanian author, taking into consideration various factors related to his bilingual and bicultural background. France, which he refers to as his mental homeland, becomes his adopted country, and the French language, his preferred writing language. An accomplished francophone author, he remains deeply rooted in the culture and tradition of his country of origin, and he constantly refers to it in his works. Being suspended between the two very different cultures is an enriching experience for him and an important source of inspiration.

The language of “True Riches”. French-Algerian relationships through Our Riches by Kaouther Admini

The present paper focuses on the novel Our Riches [Nos Richesses] published in 2017 by a young Algerian writer, Kaouther Adimi. The book is set in 20th century Algeria and narrates the history of Les Vraies Richesses, a publishing house and library founded in Alger by Edmond Charlot, which is to be closed in 2017 by Ryad, a young Algerian living in Paris, who has come to Alger to do his internship. The aim of the paper is to analyse the French-Algerian relationships depicted in the book and to study whether the novel may be inscribed in the concept of “francophonie”. It is divided into three parts. The first one investigates the structure of the book, its language and historical events described by the writer. The second examines the character development and the roles of the main protagonists and the last one focuses on the use of pronouns “you” and “we”.

When the translator comes out of the closet. The specificity of the collection Frankofonia Literaria in Poland

The author of the paper proposes to take a closer look at the collection Frankofonia Literaria in which French-language literature is published in Polish translation. In the case of the collection, several phenomena specific to the mechanism of the editorial choice, and then the way of presentation of the source target in translation in the paratexts (especially peritexts) are articulated. The author analyzes the profile of the publisher, the profile of the translator and then the nature of the editorial peritext. She also reflects on the specificity of the decision-making process as well as on the role(s) of the translator both in the choice and in the dissemination of the translated works.