Encore unmot: billets du Figaro par Étienne de Montety (review)

Montety, Étienne de. Encore un mot: billets du Figaro. Paris: Chiflet, 2012. ISBN 9782 -7578-3460-2. Pp. 187. 6,70 a. Montety’s volume is the latest contribution to Le goût des mots, a collection devoted to the dynamic impulses of the French lexicon. As the series editor Philippe DeLerm points out, words must be tamed, played with, and crafted to entertain us (7). Montety, editor of Le Figaro’s literary supplement, is likewise a lexicographer who displays skill and wit in his weekly column, Encore un mot. He is a champion of neologisms, both those that have been naturalized into the French lexical inventory, as well as those he has created to fill a political or social gap. Montety takes pleasure in teasing out multiple meanings in words that have already been granted droit de cité, embellishing them with his dazzling jeux de sons. After the 2011 conflict in Libya, for example, he concocted a new meaning for the word “charia” (37): it is the Libyan law that succeeds the chars of the revolutionary army. But precepts of charia will only apply to a chariotée of legal matters. In fact, charia might recall Mme de Sévigné’s use of charrier droit: to behave in an appropriate manner. Thus, the beautiful women of Tripoli and Benghazi will need to adhere to this conduct. But who will check to see that the local instantiations of charrier droit will conform to la charia? And who will make sure that their husbands “ne charrient pas dans le respect de la charia?” (37). The word plays continue to accumulate. In order to appreciate Montety’s linguistic moves and his humorous social optic, the reader must possess a broad background in international affairs, a keen sensitivity to language, and a more than superficial acquaintance with literary history. Another example of Montety’s démarche: under the keyword “Allemand” (17), the author diminishes the Sarkozy-Merkel couple by citing pejorative terms referring to the historical enemy that have entered the French language. Likewise, he tallies expressions that portray Germans in an unflattering light and notes the French language’s resistance to “frallemand” as opposed to “franglais” (18). Given this linguistic evidence, it is hardly surprising that the budget talks between Sarkozy and Merkel will prove to be une querelle d’Allemand: a futile argument. Both entries I have cited illustrate the strengths and limitations of Montety’s book. The ideal reader is a linguistic and cultural insider with a native-like competency in French language and literature, sensitivity to discursive style, and an intimate knowledge of internal and external politics. Hélas, even the reader who possesses these qualities will have to acknowledge the ephemeral nature of Montety’s discussions. What was a neologism at the time of his writing (for example,“l’autolib”) may no longer prompt any reflection. Likewise, the Sarkozy-Merkel couple has split. Nonetheless, Montety’s openness to linguistic innovation and its valorization over time is a welcome antidote to the conservative guardians of the gates to the French language. Cabrillo College and Graduate Theological Union (CA) H. Jay Siskin 292 FRENCH REVIEW 88.2 ...