Des hommes sans qualités ? Parlures et stratégies auctoriales dans les Propos rustiques de Noël Du Fail

Abstract

The aim of this article is to study the representations of simple folk’s speech (peasants), in a humorous novel: Noël Du Fail’s Propos rustiques, published in 1547. I shall examine the political implications of the creation of a homogeneous rustic language in the text, and therefore wonder to what extent does Du Fail create a paradoxical “collective idiolect” in order to promote an ideal sociological harmony in the Early Modern France society.

Keywords

• authorship
• collective ethos
• folk linguistics
• idiolect