French imperialism and its linguistic legacy
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Abstract
[The notion that language is just a neutral medium of communication is outdated. Throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the French empire dominated its colonies through language French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu who developed theories on culture and power partly through his fieldwork in Algeria called “symbolic power”, operating within the “linguistic market”. Language in the French colonial world set up a marginalized system. This changed as the colonial population contested their oppressors through independence. Yet, French later became a conduit for French neocolonialism, whilst ex-colonies embraced French allowing them to thrive and usurp France as linguistic pioneers. Language therefore reveals a convoluted legacy. This includes the use of language as a form of control during colonialism, and after it— alongside the various reactions to the imposition of an oppressive system and their consequences.]