France and Enlightenment Rhetoric

(Even though I'm not in Group 2, I'm writing this in hope that it might spur other thoughts)

I want to respond to this chapter on Enlightenment Rhetoric based upon my experience as a French Literature major during my undergrad years. As I read through, I realized that I already knew a lot of this information, but most of it I learned passively through history and literature courses, and not specifically through rhetoric per se. Now I see how this relates to the Ciceronian belief of having a well-rounded education, since history, literature, and rhetoric all tie together here.

What France was known for during the 16th-18th centuries was its (obsessive) focus on linguistic aesthetics. Grammarians were constantly finessing the language so that it was more than a mere "vernacular" and instead turning it into a "pure" language (Italian, at this time, was considered to be pure, thanks to an organization much like the French Academy that was established in Rome in the mid-16th century). Rhetoricians/grammarians/literary critics (rather a mesh of all three) would gather at the Louvre to discuss how the language could be the best that it could be. Eventually, these meetings led to the creation of the French Academy in the late 17th century, and as BH notes, "was founded to promote and regulate the native language" (797) -- although, to be fair, that's a gross understatement.

The French at this time were really proud of their language, as it was finally "rid" of all foreign words (or so they thought). They then began to focus on literature and how French literature was the best in the world. Wa. Hoo. Somewhere BH mentions this, but (of course) I can't find it right now. Grrr. In any case, we see in the text that the academy of St. Cyr (where Napoleon went to school, I think) was founded by the infamous Mme. de Maintenon (who has quite the reputation in French history for being not only the headmistress of the academy, but also the "headmistress" of Louis XIV...wink wink).

I also want to point out (briefly) how education changed in lieu of the French Revolution of 1789 (because it's long and super-complex, etc.). The major change, although there were many, was that schools became secularized. All teaching was done primarily in French, as Greek and Latin were secondary languages. Due to the increase of French patriotism (nationalism?), students focused more on learning French history than Classical Rhetoric. The purpose of this was to make students more informed, loyal citizens to the Republic.

I've belabored this too long. In part, it comes from the fact that I wrote my undergrad thesis on the French Academy. So I could pretty much talk about this as long as I could talk about David Bartholomae. And you all know how long THAT would take...!