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| Michel Serres, French philosopher |
A leading French intellectual has called for a boycott of all products whose advertising slogans use English and of films whose titles are not translated, in the latest salvo in a rearguard action against the "invasion" of France by the English language.
"There are more English words (in adverts) on the walls of Toulouse than there were German words during the Occupation," said philosopher Michel Serres, a member of the Acadamie française, the state body which aims to protect the French language.
"I want to invite the French to go on strike. Each time that advertising is English, you don't buy the product, each time a film's title is not translated, you don't go into the cinema," he said in an interview with la Depeche du Midi [sic] [La Dépêche du Midi] newspaper.
Serres' appeal came just months after government plans to allow more courses to be taught in English at French universities caused uproar.
The battle by parts of the French elite against the perceived violation of their mother tongue goes back decades, with a law passed in 1994 that stipulates that French is compulsory in education, business and public services. » | Rory Mulholland, Paris | Tuesday, October 22, 2013
MY TELEGRAPH BLOGS: The French philosopher who needs to meet the punks » | stephenclarke | Tuesday, October 22, 2013
