The Crusades in French dictionaries: a diachronic study (17th–20th centuries). The French word ‘croisade’ is currently a polysemic word, designating not only the Medieval expeditions to Palestine led by the Christians but also, in a metaphoric way, an ideological struggle in favour or against a specific social phenomenon. This article aims to retrace both the semantic evolution of the word ‘croisade’ and its description in French monolingual dictionaries from the 17th to the 20th century in order to detect lexicographers' enunciative postures and French social issues. The analysis demonstrates that a polarisation conceiving the Crusades starts with the Encyclopédie by Diderot and d'Alembert, which provide a negative outline of this historical event. The above-mentioned metaphoric meaning is attributed to the word ‘croisade’ at the same period.
"Croisade(s) et dictionnaires français. Une étude diachronique (XVIIe-XXe siècle)"
Cetro, Rosa
2024-01-01
Abstract
The Crusades in French dictionaries: a diachronic study (17th–20th centuries). The French word ‘croisade’ is currently a polysemic word, designating not only the Medieval expeditions to Palestine led by the Christians but also, in a metaphoric way, an ideological struggle in favour or against a specific social phenomenon. This article aims to retrace both the semantic evolution of the word ‘croisade’ and its description in French monolingual dictionaries from the 17th to the 20th century in order to detect lexicographers' enunciative postures and French social issues. The analysis demonstrates that a polarisation conceiving the Crusades starts with the Encyclopédie by Diderot and d'Alembert, which provide a negative outline of this historical event. The above-mentioned metaphoric meaning is attributed to the word ‘croisade’ at the same period.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
