The modern myth of François Villon and the origin of ancient Argot

Abstract

This paper attempts to reconstruct the origin of the ancient Argot, defined by the diachronic linguistics of the early twentieth century as a conventional and secret sociolect. This definition is based, above all, on the description by a medieval legal document of the jargon spoken by a gang of criminals called the Coquillards. On the other hand, this definition was used to interpret the most important composition of the period to explore the jargon literarily – the Ballads in jargon, attributed to the well-known criminal of the time François Villon (1431–?). It is intended to show that the origin of the ancient Argot is inseparable from the modern myth about François Villon, considered by its editors and translators as the supposed empirical author of these ballads. --- DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.22409/gragoata.2017n42a854

Keywords

• François Villon. Baladas em jargão. Argot antigo. Jargão dos criminosos.