Francophonie in Russia under Catherine II

The author begins by situating the question of francophonie in Russia in the European context, which was multicultural and multilingual. As far as Russia under Catherine II is concerned, historians do not have at their disposal tools that would enable them to assess the importance of francophonie. In order to understand this phenomenon we therefore need to resort to indirect means, especially: (i) the teaching of French in educational establishments and in the domestic setting; (ii) the amount of French books in bookshops and libraries; (iii) the influence of French on Russian (Gallicisms); (iv) the presence of French in private correspondence. Each of these means is discussed, with what it can contribute and its limitations, and with the help of examples. The discussion of the question of Gallicisms and private correspondence rests to a large extent on the Golitsyn archives. The conclusion is that the Russian secular elites of this time, like elites elsewhere in Europe, were familiar with a multilingual situation, within which the position of French was indeed very strong but not necessarily dominant and in any case variable depending on the different social and cultural contexts

Context (archaeology) · Economics · Epistemology · Media studies · Multiculturalism · Order (exchange) · Phenomenon · Political science · Position (finance) · Sociology · European Political History Analysis · Historical Influence and Diplomacy · Historical Linguistics and Language Studies · History · Law · Philosophy

• F(f)rancophonies

  Open Access•Frédéric Ramel•Sens public•2016

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