La academia francesaentre misoginia y desprecio hacia las mujeres

Abstract

The construction of the French language, as the official language of France, has been, and still seems to be, an exclusively male affair. In 1635, Cardinal Richelieu created the Académie française which, until the end of the 20th century, has excluded women from this temple of language. Academics have refused to admit that the female gender has had, and still has, a more than evident importance in the construction of a pure, eloquent and refined language, as the French language claims to be. This study aims to present some examples of women who have honoured the French language, with, among other initiatives, the emergence of the literary salons, which were undoubtedly the prelude to the famous institution. We would also like to highlight the disproportionate reluctance of men to the presence of women in the Académie Française until the historic appointment of Marguerite Yourcenar in 1980.