"Keep your distance or I cry!" warns the girl in the Idyll prohibited by Joanna Maitland, versed in romances under the English Regency. "Keep your distance" exclaims his side, in 1868, the master of study of the Little Thing , which barely conceals Alphonse Daudet, the latter having been, let us remember, a chronicler at Le Figaro .
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It is because when trying to cross the city with "the division of the little ones" the said study master is distressed: "My little ones were not going in a row, held hands and chatted along the road." So, even if they gasped while repeating loudly "keep your distance", obviously "they did not understand me and walked all wrong."
"Distancing" is the same cry today, for those who "do not understand". It is not so easy to be heard! So let's go through the etymology, stressing that from "guarded distance" to "social distancing", the latter formula being to be deciphered, the distance is very short. Even if the history of these words deserves a few strides.
"STAY" AT "DISTANCE": IN A FAMILY OF WORDS?
And if we go back to the Indo-European who nourished Latin and Greek? We would quickly meet the root sta , assimilated to the fact of standing. Hence the Latin stare , in the same sense, with the corresponding name status. From there then came French words like station, in the broad sense but in any event denoting a fixed point, or English words like to stand , stand up, the rest followed in 1875 and in French from l 'borrowing' stand ', first a shooting' stand '. We aim in effect standing at the target, well wedged on both legs.
Let us return then to the Latin verb stare , because it is starting from this root that distare was constructed, the prefix di indicating here the separation. Di-stare is good by being distant, di- , standing, stare. And on this distare came naturally the noun distantia, at the origin of French distance, attested in French since 1223, as deviation, interval.
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It was in fact in 1844 that the use of the phrase "keep your distance" was first identified in the singular. And that at Balzac in Splendeurs et misères des courtesisanes . The plural "keep your distance" will settle a few years later.
"Stay at a distance": this injunction cannot be discussed. She senses the threat and recently that of a virus. In reality, the first time that the word “remain” entered the French language, in 1174, it meant “to stop”, “to not move any more”. Thus, "staying" at "distance" is all the more imperative especially if we know that the verb "to stay" comes from the same root as "distance". It is indeed from the verb stare , to be standing therefore, reinforced by the prefix re- here with intensive value, re-stare designating the fact of standing firmly upright, of staying well in place.
Re-stare or di-stare, that is the question! Let us decide: do not move, keep clear ... Let’s establish a distance. But since when can we use "distancing"?
ACADEMIC DEFINITION OF DISTANCIATION
The fact may surprise, but the word "distancing" has only been attested in the French language since 1959 and it is actually a translation of the German Verfremdungs (Effekt) which will have to be clarified. Going through the art of writing dictionaries, lexicography.
There are indeed sometimes dictionary definitions which confine - a verb whose use becomes delicate - to perfection. Some even are perfect, let's hear that they are precise, elegant and understandable by all. This is the case with the "distancing" presented as a "theatrical technique advocated by the playwright Bertolt Brecht, where the actor strives to act as if at a distance from his character, so that the spectator gives priority to the social message or policy that the author wanted to deliver. "
Where does this definition come from? From the Dictionary of the French Academy for free consultation on the Internet. This gives the opportunity to note that this word is only present in the last edition, the "buttons" of the previous editions accessible at the top of the screen are not indeed lit.
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In fact, the German writer Bertolt Brecht, eager to develop the spectator's critical mind, advocated this theory, the Verfremdungseffekt , inciting the spectator to distance himself from the dramatic action through the actor taking himself his "distances" from his character. This process was called the distancing effect: it was no longer a question of arousing the spectator's emotion but his critical mind.
It is rare for a literary formula to take root in the general vocabulary, but this was the case here, distancing quickly becoming synonymous with taking a step back from someone or something. Here, for example, is Godard, in the Cahiers du cinema, evoking young critics who must “both make an effort to reflect or distance themselves, and live. Live and watch live. " It is enough to consult the Grand Robert to note, moreover, that "retreat", when it consists of "detaching oneself from the spirit of a situation", refers to the article "distancing".
Finally, around 1960, the idea arose through this word of a gap established between different social classes, even a refusal of relationships. To Dumazedier and Ripert, cited in the Trésor de la langue française, then noted in 1966 that it was perhaps "at the end of the social distancing of the last century". We are at this moment in the heart of the Thirty Glorious Years, far removed from the notion of an epidemic caused by the coronavirus. It is necessary to put an end to social distancing, such is the creed of the intellectuals of that time. Unfortunately, it was going to take on another meaning with coronaviral epidemics.
FROM SOCIAL DISTANCING TO SPACE DISTANCIATION
It was in October 1918 during the Spanish flu pandemic that, in Missouri, the doctor Max C. Starkloff would have implemented the principle of "social distancing", prohibiting in particular gatherings of more than twenty people. This principle was confirmed as well as the English formula during the influenza A (H1N1) pandemic of 2009.
Then, with the epidemic of the coronavirus 2019-2020, also called there in English Covid-19 starting from the acronym of coronavirus disease 2019, "vid" corresponding to "virus disease", was confirmed the "social distancing", in truth translation of "social distancing". Those who regret the English acronym will be able to partially console themselves by remembering that the English word disease, maladie, dates only from the 14th century and that it was borrowed from French. We must recognize the old French, "désaise", built in the same way as "malaise" and proper in the past to designate any disease, any lack of comfort ...
That on March 14, 2020, in a declaration made from the Ministry of Health, the French Prime Minister affirmed that "the best way to stop the spread of the epidemic is by spatial distancing", understanding that "this term we put off ”, he meant this concept, it was actually in my opinion a very good formula that this“ spatial ”distancing. Alas, it was the adjective "social" and the English translation which prevailed and it is no longer possible for me to emphasize that I am both against social distancing and for spatial distancing.
Anyway, an observation is imperative and satisfies us. Doctors and politicians keep a descriptive and prescriptive discourse, necessary while the patients - etymologically those who suffer - know for the most part practicing humor, faced with confinement. However, according to the formula of Philippe Bouvard in his Thousand and one thoughts , published in 2005, it is important never to "succumb to the pontificating temptation", and to practice "an amused self-distraction". It's the case.
Of course, we would prefer to have fun outside, all together. But, for the time being, while respecting spatial distancing - I still can't quite say “social distancing”, the fault of the 1960s… -, thank you everyone for practicing humor, singing, playing music on the balconies, with the windows wide open, all punctuated by loud applause towards our caring heroes. Here, all together, a real social rapprochement!