International Encyclopedia of Communication Online

Extract

Commonly, “francophonie” carries three meanings: linguistic (those who have French in common); geographical (the peoples whose mother tongue, fluency, or administrative language is French); and a more mystical meaning, signifying membership of a collective community. But “Francophonie” (capital F) designates the movement and institutions initiated by French authorities after World War II in favor of the French language, in the context of its former colonies’ independence. France tried to promote a French “commonwealth” and a special relationship with ex-colonies to protect the language. France was very often accused of maintaining neo-colonial relationships, but the movement for Francophonie was also supported by leaders of the new independent states as a means to build new relations with the former colonizer. Were these, then, actions to support the French language worldwide, or to protect French political and economic interests in its former colonies? This debate has been at the core of the history of Francophonie. Nowadays, through its institutions and agents, Francophonie strives to propose an alternative to a homogenizing globalization process, by promoting cultural diversity (→  Culture: Definitions and Concepts ; Globalization Theories ). Invented at the end of the nineteenth century by French geographer Onésime Reclus in his book France, Algérie et les Colonies , to categorize ... log in or subscribe to read full text