ABSTRACT
Another part of the world where language and linguistic culture constitute a core value is France and the rest of the French-speaking world—la francophonie. As one eminent writer puts it:
France is today the only nation in the world with legislation requiring (since 1794) the exclusive use of the national language in all public and private acts, from the drafting of laws to the language of commercial transactions and even a private citizen's last will and testament, etc. … France is the most extreme case [le cas limite] of a nation totally identified with one language, but which goes beyond this to defend the integrity of this linguistic personality in all aspects of social life against the claims and encroachments of any and all languages from inside or outside its borders….
Certain international observers consider this policy aberrant in the age of computers and mass-media which is already upon us…. But French public opinion, perhaps anaesthetized by its poorly-understood monolingualism, is not sensitive to the urgency of language problems.
(Balibar 1985:9)