Ornamental Illustrations in French Dictionaries

Ornamental Illustrations in French Dictionaries t: Thora van Male ''hat a dictionary simultaneously reflects the society which produces it and is a reflection of that society is an established fact, one of the tenets of metalexicography (Rey 1982, 5; Read 1998, 282; Boulanger 1994, 41; Landau 1989, 302). And though illustrations have often been considered by dictionary makers as useful, even necessary (Webster 1859, lxxxi and Larousse 1879, 13), the vast majority of writing in metalexicography focuses on the text alone, its macrostructure and microstructure. Neither dictionary specialists nor the general public have paid much attention to the ways in which dictionary illustrations also might reflect and be a reflection of society. Though the Petit Larousse Illustré, an illustrated encyclopedic dictionary, has been a staple in French households for nearly one hundred years,1 there has been litde study of its documentary illustrations and, as far as I have been able to discern , none of its ornamental and decorative illustrations. This state of affairs may well apply to the study of dictionaries outside of France as well,2 with the work that has been done devoted almost entirely to :André Rétif (1975, 308) estimates that some thirty million copies of the Petit Larousse Illustré viere sold between 1905 and 1975; according to Chartier and Martin (1985, 3.40), in the 1980s over 600,000 Petit Larousse Illustré dictionaries were sold annually. The head of Larousse announced in May 2000 that over one million copies of the year 2000 issue had already been sold. 2It would not be accurate to say there has been no work in this area. The following have made contributions worthy of interest: Archambault (1994); Dictionaries:Journal oftheDictionary Society ofNorth America 22 (2001) 32Thora van Male documentary illustrations (particularly in specialized, historical, or learners' dictionaries) , or to the specific issues involved in adapting or designing dictionaries for modern information technology. There is a treasure trove in the area of ornamental dictionary illustrations:3 it would ultimately be possible to show how these decorations — like the lexicographic text itself, but outside of it — convey messages about society. This article considers ways of approaching ornamental illustrations in French dictionaries, the crux of which is the unique relation between letter and image. Rather than provide a definitive statement on the subject, the present article introduces readers to this "new" field and outlines some of the issues inherent in it. One cannot help but wonder why ornamental dictionary illustration has been ignored for so long, especially in France, where there is a history of ornamentation in dictionaries. Are these illustrations too obvious? Poe's short story, "The Purloined Letter," comes to mind: in two different instances, a letter (i.e., a missive) is "hidden" in a perfectiy visible place, in sight of those who have every reason to want to find it. Jacques Lacan comments on the story: "The very reason the letter is lying there, left carelessly on the table, is so that the king will not notice it. The queen is playing on the king's inattention, even his blindness to it" (1978, 229). And further on: "Here the letter is synonymous with the initial, radical subject. It is a symbol moving about in its pure state: if one touches it, one is immediately caught up in its dynamics " (1978, 231). Though one might not take Lacan literally here, the parallel is nonetheless tempting. Let us leave aside any play on Barthes (1972, 89-104) in his study of the plates of the Encyclopédie, Corbin (2000); Dimier (1977, 221-309) in his doctoral dissertation on the Petit Larousse, Hancher (1988, 1992, and 1996); Hupka (1984 and 1989); Landau (1989, 111-115); Pruvost (1994), whose article opens with these words: "Dictionary illustration remains a very poorly known sector which has given rise to little research"; Rey (1982, 44-48); Rey-Debove (1971, 34-35 and 1984); Stein (1991); Werner (1982); and Zgusta (1989). All except Zgusta dwell almost entirely upon the documentary, rather than the ornamental, aspect. Perhaps Dimier also had ornamental illustrations in mind when he stated that "We think that what is characteristic of the Petit Larousse is contained in what some might consider secondary aspects...