Citation:
Abstract:
In French, the much-studied interrelation of language, ideology, and lived experience crystallizes around the question of gender. Not only is every noun in French classified as masculine or feminine, but a whole range of grammatical features, rules, words, and linguistic practices intertwine gender ideologies and language to the point that they become co-constitutive. This group of phenomena, which I call “languagender,” has arisen both as a result of historical linguistic factors and as a result of language projects intended to reinforce gender binarity and hierarchization, with the masculine gender cast in the dominant role.
Recognizing that languagender enables, encourages, and even imposes acts of gender violence upon francophones with various gender identities, many have attempted in recent years to develop alternative grammars which are more inclusive. Drawing on interview data and on literary analysis, my thesis explores such practices of languagender resistance and dismantling mobilized 1) by gender nonbinary Quebecers in their daily lives, and 2) by French and Quebecois writers in works of fiction. I read these two corpuses together with the objective of writing an accessible text that suggests best practices for those looking to construct and use a more inclusive French language. Having done so, I propose that the best course of action, and that most respectful of nonbinary people’s goals, is not to create and impose a new series of words and rules, but to adopt practices that embrace language fluidity, multiplicitity of practices, and metalinguistic thinking and discussion.