Admirable clarté oder clarté obscure?

Der Streit um das génie de la langue française

Abstract

Clarity (clarté) is a central part of the French language discussion and, however, a highly controversial concept. Ever since Antoine de Rivarol’s Discours sur l’universalité de la langue française in 1784, clarity has been used as the basic argument for the universality of French. Since then, French has been regarded as a truly clear language. To this day, the idea of French as an absolutely clear language is an integral part of French linguistic culture and, as such, a component of apologetic considerations. However, there is a growing number of authors who no longer accept clarity as a valid feature of French. These authors increasingly question the myth of the French clarity and thus also the genius of the French language. This article aims to outline the development of the concept of clarity and examine the arguments that are currently being put forward for and against it. Likewise, from a linguistic perspective, the question will be explored as to whether clarity can actually be considered a linguistic category.