Dissertation sur les causes de l'universalité de la langue françoise et la durée vraisemblable de son empire with Le Discours de M. de Rivarol (review)

In his foreword, Freeman Henry justifies offering a new edition of a text – or perhaps two texts – which, in his view, has been unjustly forgotten, Robelot's 1803 translation of Schwab's prize winning essay of 1784. These texts, he argues, were produced at two key moments in the history of two countries, Germany in the 1780s, seeking to carve out its intellectual and political identity in the shadow of the France of Louis XIV and Voltaire, and France at the turn of the century, keen to recapture its legendary past. This new edition of the translation also serves to remind us that, contrary to popular belief, it was not Rivarol alone who won the Berlin Academy prize on the subject of the 'universality' of the French language; rather the prize was shared with Schwab. Finally, Henry argues that Schwab's essay is perhaps particularly relevant to France today, presaging in its conclusion the future rise of English as the universal language. In fact, as Henry himself notes, there has been important work on Schwab's essay by scholars such as Christmann and Haßler, and, as is so often the case, Brunot in volume 8 of his monumental Histoire de la langue française provided a pithy analysis of Schwab's and Rivarol's essay: if Rivarol's is the "chef-d'œuvre d'un illusionniste," Schwab's is an "œuvre de science et de conscience, sans éclat, sans entrain, mais si riche d'idées et de faits qu'on ne le relit jamais." Schwab's much longer text, Henry argues, is not only more scholarly since he quotes sources precisely, but also more comprehensive since, unlike Rivarol, he aims to address all three questions posed by the Academy ("Qu'est-ce qui a rendu la Langue Françoise Universelle en Europe?"; "Par où la langue françoise mérite-t-elle, d'être la langue universelle en Europe?"; "Est-il à présumer que la langue françoise conservera sa prérogative?"), and to explain French linguistic supremacy by a range of political, socioeconomic, cultural and pedagogical factors. The Introduction covers much of the ground you would expect: a history of the Berlin Academy and of its prize, the role of the French language in the Academy, and the attitude of Frederic II towards French and German language and literature. In his review of the other essays entered for the prize in 1782/1784 and account of Rivarol's essay, as indeed in much of the Introduction, Henry depends heavily on previous research. Also included are short biographies of Schwab and of Robelot (1763–1825), the latter a refugee priest in Germany. A revealing perspective on how quickly attitudes evolved on some of these questions is afforded by Schwab's letter written in December 1796: whilst Schwab praises Robelot's translation for conveying his ideas with "clarté, justesse et precision," the key qualities for any classical or neo-classical writer, he also tempers his enthusiasm for France and the French in view of the Revolution; he nevertheless concludes on an optimistic note, hoping the nation will be restored to its place of supremacy once it has atoned for "les cruautés inouïes et les injustices sans nombre qu'elle a commises." Interestingly Robelot's notes are not restricted to cultural and linguistic explanations; rather he occasionally challenges Schwab's judgments, for instance criticising him for citing Bossuet and d'Alembert on equal terms. Less successful is his appendix on the status of French in the Middle Ages, which lacks Schwab's objectivity and scholarship. In summary, this is a very welcome and useful edition, if somewhat marred at times by...