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Major Themes-The Last Lesson: Linguistic Chauvinism

The document discusses three major themes from the short story "The Last Lesson": 1) Linguistic chauvinism, specifically how the story explores the passion of the characters for the French language being replaced by German as the official language after the region was annexed. 2) Language as a component of national identity, and how losing a shared language could undermine a cultural identity and sense of belonging. 3) A theme of "don't put off until tomorrow" as the young protagonist's anxiety over neglecting his French lesson is made irrelevant when the language is suddenly banned from schools.

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2K views

Major Themes-The Last Lesson: Linguistic Chauvinism

The document discusses three major themes from the short story "The Last Lesson": 1) Linguistic chauvinism, specifically how the story explores the passion of the characters for the French language being replaced by German as the official language after the region was annexed. 2) Language as a component of national identity, and how losing a shared language could undermine a cultural identity and sense of belonging. 3) A theme of "don't put off until tomorrow" as the young protagonist's anxiety over neglecting his French lesson is made irrelevant when the language is suddenly banned from schools.

Uploaded by

Pro Chinmaya
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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MAJOR THEMES- THE LAST LESSON

Linguistic Chauvinism
Linguistic chauvinism is a term applied to the concept of preference for
one language over another. Fundamentally, it has a negative connotation
associated with superiority, but on a broader level the chauvinism
toward one language over another is equally applicable to multilingual
circumstances in which that spoken by the majority would be deemed
the “official” language: such as in America. In the case of this story,
thematic exploration of linguistic chauvinism references both the
passion expressed by the characters toward the loss of the French
language being taught in school as well as the oppressive introduction of
German as the new official language of the region in the wake of its
annexation as a negotiation for a peaceful end to the Franco-Prussian
War. Suffice to say that the unwritten part of this story is the equitable
scene of celebrations going on somewhere in favor of German replacing
French as the language taught in schools within the annexed territory.
Language as National Identity
The story explores a theme often found in literature that questions what
constitutes a national identity. What is about a nationality that creates a
collective feeling of belonging among a constituency that differs so
substantially among other characteristics associated with cultural
distinction. What unifies Swedish people as Swedes: blond hair, light
complexion, a hardy resistance to frigid climate? Or is that the Swedish
language? Not all Swedes are blond nor lightly complexioned nor
inherently capable of withstanding freezing winter, but a commonality
of language binds them all to their cultural heritage through facilitation
of communication. This conception of language as key to national
identity is even more pronounced in countries like France where
physical distinctions are much more diverse than in Sweden—or Kenya
or Japan, for instance. If language is the primal element in constituting a
cultural identity based on nationalist sentiment, then what would be the
effect of an oppressive foreign intruder attempting to erase that language
and impose its own upon the populace? That is consequence the author
is asking his reader to imagine.
Don’t Put Off Until Tomorrow…
When the young student narrator Franz wakes up, the worst thing in the
world to him is having to face his teacher’s lesson on participles that he
neglected to study for. All he can think all morning until he arrives at
school is his anxiety over failing to study and the trouble he’s going to
get in because of it. By the end of that very same day, the lesson no
longer matters because the French language is no longer going to be a
subject taught in the school. Overnight, the requirement to learn to
French has disappeared, but ironically Franz’s desire to learn it has
exploded. One of the themes of the story is moral instruction: don’t put
off things learning or doing things until tomorrow because the
opportunity may be taken from you by then.

-BY DR.SHAHZAD AHMAD SIDDIQUI

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