ГОЛОС ЖІНКИ В ІСТОРІЇ ФРАНЦУЗЬКОЇ ФІЛОЛОГІЇ
WOMAN’S VOICE IN THE HISTORY OF THE FRENCH PHILOLOGY

Summary/Abstract: The study presents philological views of one of the most intelligent and consistent opponents of the puristic renewal of the French language in the classical age, i.e. of Mademoiselle Marie Le Jars de Gournay. This self-dictatorial woman owing to her perseverance and natural abilities studied Latin and Greek independently having thus opened up for herself an access to ancient sources of knowledge in various humanitarian fields. Knowledge acquired by tireless work formed her as an extraordinary, creatively thinking person who enjoyed undeniable authority among the educated people of those times. Marie de Gournay 's writing talent and deep analytical mind gained public recognition and were highly appreciated by many intellectuals not only in France but also in Europe. Noteworthy in this regard is the ascertained historical fact that Michel Montaigne, the renowned thinker of the Renaissance, regarded her as his daughter, and even entrusted her with the reprint of his works both during his lifetime and after his death. Marie de Gournay’s years of life and her writings were in the period when the French language was establishing itself as the official state language. Her ideological beliefs were formed under the influence of the ideals of humanism of the Renaissance and of the artistic values of the age of Classicism. Adhering to the humanistic principles of the artists of the XVI century Marie de Gournay vehemently fought against many linguistic innovations that were persistently imposed on the society by reformers led by Malherbe. Due to her uncompromising position on the methods of linguistic reform, many lexical and grammatical units were preserved in the French language the withdrawal of which was urged by the supports of Malherbe. Marie de Gournay’s treatises shed light on a wide range of issues of the functioning of French at the end of the XVI and the beginning of the XVIII centuries and prove that the process of language normalization, which is connected with Malherbe’s reformist activity and later with the similar activities of the French Academy, founded in 1634, was not an easy one. The article briefly reviews the contents of four of eight treatises written by Gournay in which the author examines various controversial issues in philology. All of them were in the collection of works published first in 1626 under the name “L’Ombre de la demoiselle de Gournay”. The author changed the first title into “Les Advisou les presens de la mademoiselle de Gournay” in the second (1634) and third (1641) editions.

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