L’artisanat dans tous ses états : étude philologique
The Artisanat Concept from Every Angles: a Philological Study

Summary/Abstract: This paper deals with the french notion artisanat. The term is studied following a diachronic scale, starting from its latin origin up to its present official administrative definition. The successive editions of the Dictionnaire de l’Académie Française are used to mark out its evolution, explained at each stage by the cultural environment. Finally, the term is analyzed to show the construction of its semantic field, in order to answer the question : what is artisanat today ? Several options are suggested, such as craft, craftsmanship, handicraft, handiwork, small business, cottage industry.

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