"Woke", "identity" ... These words that marked the year 2021

These are words we have all read.

Terms that we have used and perhaps even explained to those around us.

Thus, since the onset of the health crisis, no one is unaware of what a

Likewise, everyone knows what a

.

The vocabulary of health is an intimately part of our lives.

"READ ALSO -" Pandemic "," panic "... These disturbing words which marked the year 2020

“In recent months, we have all become epidemiologists able to develop health recommendations

, writes not without irony Delphine Jouenne in the introduction to her book

(Enderby). And to add about the socio-political vocabulary which irrigates the linguistic landscape:

Vaccinodrome, identity, hybrid, merit, woke, abstention, bamboche, solastalgia *, degrowth, passport, nuclear, nuance ... These words made the news of this year 2021. Delphine Jouenne analyzes these terms in order to give them meaning again and appreciate their complexity.

LE FIGARO.

- In 2020, the words of health predominated the French linguistic landscape.

You then elected "confinement", the word of the year.

What about a year later?

Delphine JOUENNE.

-

There is not one but two words, in my opinion, which emerge from the news of the year 2021: "identity" and "woke". These terms show that we have more and more difficulties in "forming society". Last June, we carried out a study on the perception of the French concerning the words that animate them. Among these words appeared: work, authority, feminism, youth, secularism, ecology, solidarity, citizenship, violence and transparency. We noticed that the respondents, depending on their age or their sex, did not put the same values ​​or the same meanings on certain words, for example on the term “violence”. Indeed, for some young high school students, “violence” can be associated with “a form of dialogue”. Thereby,the understanding of the language is relative according to whom one expresses oneself. I want as proof this other word "secularism". For nearly half of the French people we interviewed in our study on a panel of 1,049 respondents, secularism goes hand in hand with freedom of expression. But for others, it is the expression of the negation of religion and reflects a separatism, especially among respondents in the 25-34 age group. The essential condition of language is to allow everyone to understand each other, but there is often a misunderstanding of the very meaning of words. We do not put the same intensity, the same values, the same emotions on words despite their definition ... As a result, they are often deviated from their original definition. Language is in essence a source of divergence, subject to interpretation,which makes any attempt at dialogue between French people who do not always understand each other difficult.

“By importing the word woke, we also import our thinking.

However, we cannot transfer everything to French history, language and society ”

Unsurprisingly, the words health are still present this year on your list: vaccinodrome, passport ... But unlike last year, they no longer embody a fear but a solution.

The words of this year are much more positive than those of last year, that's for sure!

They no longer embody a fear but a source of solution.

In 2020, it was all the health constraints imposed by the pandemic that we analyzed in the words extracted from public speech.

Thus, there were the words "mask" or even "confinement", today we have the "vaccine" but also the "passport" which allows us to no longer live in a bell.

You chose the word “woke”, but not “cancel culture”, for what reason?

By approaching wokism, we come back to the problems of “cancel culture” which do not emanate from our European culture but which are imposed by the United States. By importing this word, we also import our thought. However, we cannot transfer everything to French history, language and society. The word "woke" means "awake". It is said that he was born in the United States in the 2010s and that he gained momentum especially with the Black Lives Matter movement. In fact, this movement could have emerged in Lincoln's time, among already militant anti-slavery movements. The "woke" was originally a spoken language and allowed to bring a notion of vigilance. From this vocabulary follow other words: the "SJW", the "social justice warrior" refers to the "woke opponent", the "fighter for social justice".This word is currently confined to the United States. We also note the term "Karen", a first name which designates the opponent to woke. In the United States, the language therefore adapts and responds to a societal movement. Can a similar adaptation of the language occur in France?

"The nuance is for me the politeness of the language because it allows to gain height by explaining subjects, in a peaceful way"

You write "this woke movement, initially benevolent, can forget its nuance".

The “nuance” is another word that you have remembered this year.

We are in an irrational society where we try to generate epidermal reactions, even a rupture in the discussions. We forget the very notion of what debate is. Faced with the dictatorship of emotion, it is necessary to have clear opinions, to mark the spirits at all costs ... All this to the detriment of nuance. The "nuance" is for me the politeness of the language because it allows to gain height by explaining subjects, in a peaceful way. It is the complete opposite of our current society. No, the quest for appeasement is not a weakness. Yes, we can absolutely be certain while respecting our opponent. This lack of nuance is likely to be felt even more on the eve of the presidential election. At a time when nuance is strongly questioned in our society,are we not going to lose as a debate?

Speaking of the presidential election, in your list, you note the word “abstention”.

Working on the word abstention makes it possible to trace the evolution of its definition.

Originally, the word, endowed with a moral dimension, translated the citizen's disinterest or the desire to evade responsibility.

However, more and more, in the definition they give of it, the dictionaries avoid the blame to simply describe the refusal of the citizen to go to vote.

You write: "For two decades, the expression has lost a lot of the essential qualities of the French language: clarity, elegance and simplicity."

How to explain it?

We have to accept the evolution of the language, but by constantly wanting to make an impression, we forget the pleasure of using a clear, simple and elegant language. French is a language rich in synonyms that allows us to think correctly, but we are often content to remain vague in the words we use on a daily basis, which is damaging. This symptom indicates an urgency to go, to speak and to act quickly. Perhaps we should slow down the speaking time, reformulate the terms of the public debate in order to better understand and get along? Let's go back in time and be vigilant in the face of the immediacy advocated by social networks. This time is necessary to show subtleties and find the right word, the one that will calm the debate.

* Solastalgia: “This phenomenon, which concerns us all, has been summed up since 2003 by the concept of solastalgia, proposed by the Australian philosopher Glenn Albrecht in an attempt to describe the feeling of deep distress that we can feel in the face of the imposed spectacle of the degradation of nature, and awareness of the irreversibility of our actions. ”