The Literary Status of French and Cultural Boundaries in the Long Fourteenth Century : The Formation of a Francophone Identity

FAIN: FEL-262466-19

Anne-Helene Marie Miller
University of Tennessee, Knoxville (Knoxville, TN 37916-3801)

Research and writing leading to publication of a book on the development of 14th-century French literary culture.

The long Fourteenth Century constitutes an important period during which the possibilities of French as a literary language began to be discussed and theorized. Bringing together literary analysis, archival and historiographical research, critical theory, and material studies, my book reexamines in its various textual contexts the intricate formation of a francophone literary consciousness in late medieval France and its neighboring regions. It argues that, at a time often characterized by the emergence of a geographically established linguistic nation, the rich francophone learned culture outside of France, with its transnational networks, played a significant role in generating, rather than detracting from, a nascent sentiment of belonging through language. My project contributes not only to the growing field of study in medieval multilingualism, socio-linguistics and philology, but also offers important insights into current subjects of debate in French studies.