Zazie at 60: some linguistic considerations

A French research talk, to be given by our colleague Dr. Nigel Armstrong  (Leeds)

Summary

Zazie dans le Métro (published 1959; Zazie hereafter) has the distinction of belonging to the select group of novels with a famous first line, along with Moby-Dick, Swann’s Way and a few others. ‘Doukipudonktan’ seems to proclaim right from the outset Queneau’s commitment to the exploration, perhaps the celebration of non-standard French, the latter a problematic term that merits discussion. This commitment is shown in the frequent use of a quasi-phonetic system of spelling, and his tendency to write phrases solid – there are no gaps between words in the sense groups of connected speech, and it is easy to lose sight of the conventional nature of the gaps in writing. One psychological element that tends to be overlooked in the consideration of variable language, understandably so in view of its recalcitrance to rigorous study, is the level of consciousness at which it operates. It seems likely that linguistic variation and change work in a quasi-conscious way, and although Queneau was not an academic linguist, he is sometimes cited in the sociolinguistic literature of French and is clearly one of those few who are acutely aware of variation. This fact raises thorny questions to do with the cognitive status of variable language. 

All welcome!