Louis-Jean Calvet (born 5 June 1942) is a French linguist.

Biography

As a student at the

University of Nice A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Univ ...

, where he was a student of linguist Pierre Guiraud, Calvet was elected in 1964 to the national bureau of the

Union Nationale des Étudiants de France The National Union of Students of France (, ; abbr. UNEF) is the largest national students' union in France. It is historically close to the Socialist Party, with many of its member joining the party after leaving student life. It works to repr ...

. There, he was in charge of information and held the position of chief editor for the monthly publication ''21.27''. Then, as a student at the Sorbonne with

André Martinet André Martinet (; 12 April 1908 – 16 July 1999) was a French linguist, influential due to his work on structural linguistics. In linguistic theory, Martinet is known especially for his studies on linguistic economy and double articulation. ...

, he pursued a

doctoral thesis A thesis (: theses), or dissertation (abbreviated diss.), is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings.International Standard ISO 7144: D ...

titled ''Le système des sigles en français contemporain'' ("The System of Acronyms in Contemporary France"), and then another doctorate on "Langue, corps, société" ("Language, Body, Society"). Calvet was first professor at

Paris Descartes University Paris Descartes University (), also known as Paris V, was a French public university located in Paris. It was one of the inheritors of the historic University of Paris, which was split into 13 universities in 1970. Paris Descartes completely merg ...

, and then at

Aix-Marseille University Aix-Marseille University (AMU; ; formally incorporated as ) is a Public university, public research university located in the Provence region of southern France. It was founded in 1409 when Louis II of Anjou, List of rulers of Provence, Count of ...

, a position that he held until 2012. From his first publication (''Linguistique et colonialisme'', in which he first introduced his concept of glottophagy), he has analyzed the relationships between linguistic discourse and colonial discourse on languages, as well as the links between language and power (''La Guerre des langues,'' 1987) and the linguistic role of cities (''Les Voix de la ville'', 1994). He thus participated in the creation of a French field of sociolinguistics, of which he is one of the most well known representatives. His works have been translated in over twenty languages, and he has been invited to speak at numerous universities all over the world. Having been the director of the Languages and Societies collection at the publishing house Payot for several years, he has published the works of authors such as Sylvain Auroux,

, André Chervel, Christian Cuxac,

Tullio De Mauro Tullio De Mauro (31 March 1932 – 5 January 2017) was an Italian linguist and politician. De Mauro was Professor Emeritus of General Linguistics at the Sapienza University of Rome, and held the post of Italian Minister of Education from 20 ...

, Ivan Fonagy, Pierre Guiraud,

Nancy Huston Nancy Louise Huston, Order of Canada, OC (born September 16, 1953) is a Canadian novelist and essayist, a longtime resident of France, who writes primarily in French and translates her own works into English. Biography Huston was born in Calgary ...

Morris Swadesh Morris Swadesh ( ; January 22, 1909 – July 20, 1967) was an American linguist who specialized in comparative and historical linguistics, and developed his mature career at UNAM in Mexico. Swadesh was born in Massachusetts to Bessarabian Jewi ...

, Jean-Didier Urbain, Marina Yaguello, etc. In addition to his academic activities, Calvet is also a journalist, contributing to the weekly publication ''Politique hebdo'', in which he takes on cultural phenomena, in particular music, from a sociological and political standpoint, as well as writing about ethnic and linguistic minorities.

Publications

*1969 : ''Dynamique des groupes et pédagogie'', Bureau pour l'enseignement de la langue et de la civilisation françaises à l'étranger *1973 : ''Roland Barthes ; un regard politique sur le signe'', Payot (Petite bibliothèque Payot) *1974 : ''Linguistique et colonialisme, petit traité de glottophagie'', Payot (Petite bibliothèque Payot); traduit en allemand ("Die Sprachenfresser. Ein Versuch über Linguistik und Kolonialismus", 1978) *1975 : ''Pour et contre Saussure : vers une linguistique sociale'' Payot (Petite bibliothèque Payot) *''Marxisme et linguistique''. ''Marx, Engels, Lafargue, Staline'', précédé de ''Sous les pavés de Staline la plage de Freud?'', Paris, Payot, coll. "Langages et sociétés", 1977. *1978 : '' Faut-il brûler Sardou ?'', avec Jean-Claude Klein, Savelli *1980 : ''Les Sigles'', PUF (

Que sais-je ? "Que sais-je?" (QSJ) (; Literally: "What do I know?", ) is an editorial collection published by the Presses universitaires de France (PUF). The aim of the series is to provide the lay reader with an accessible introduction to a field of study wr ...

, n° 1811) *1981 : ''Les Langues véhiculaires'', PUF (

, n° 1916) *1984 : ''La Tradition orale'', PUF (

, n° 2122) *1985 : direction du dossier « Les musiques métissées » de la revue '' Vibrations. Musiques, médias, société'' *1988 : direction du dossier « La scène » de la revue ''Vibrations. Musiques, médias, société'' *1990 : ''Roland Barthes'', Flammarion *1993 : ''La Sociolinguistique'', PUF (

, n° 2731) *1994 : ''L'Argot'', PUF (

, n° 700) *1994 : ''Les Voix de la ville, Introduction à la sociolinguistique urbaine'', Payot *1996 : ''Les Politiques linguistiques'', PUF (

, n° 3075) *1996 : ''Histoire de l'écriture'', Plon *1999 : ''Pour une écologie des langues du monde'', Plon *2003 : ''Léo Ferré'', Flammarion *2004 : ''Essais de linguistique, la langue est-elle une invention des linguistes ?'', Plon *2006 : ''100 ans de chanson française'', l'Archipel *2006 : ''Combat pour l'Élysée'', en collaboration avec Jean Véronis, Seuil *2008 : ''Les Mots de Nicolas Sarkozy'', en collaboration avec Jean Véronis, Seuil *2010 : ''Le Jeu du signe'', Seuil *2010 : ''Le Français en Afrique'', l'Archipel *2011 : ''Il était une fois 7000 langues'', Fayard *2013 : ''Chansons, la bande son de notre histoire'', l'Archipel *2013 : ''Les Confettis de Babel. Diversité linguistique et politique des langues, ''en collaboration avec Alain Calvet, Ecriture *2014 : ''Georges Moustaki, une vie'', l'Archipel *2016 : ''La Méditerranée, mer de nos langues'', CNRS éditions *2019 : ''My tailor is still rich, les glottotropies à travers l'histoire de la méthode Assimil, CNRS éditions''

Honours

He was awarded the Sociolinguists Worldwide Award in 2012, the Ptolemy prize from the International Forum of Geography in 2016, and the George Dumézil prize from the

Académie Française An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

in 2017 for his word ''La Méditerranée, mer de nos langues'' ("The Mediterranean, sea of our languages").

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Calvet, Louis-Jean 1942 births Living people Sociolinguists French semioticians 20th-century French linguists French editors People from Bizerte Côte d'Azur University alumni Academic staff of Paris Descartes University Academic staff of Aix-Marseille University