The Use of Slang in Marcel Schwob’s Cœur double

Abstract

Cœur double was published by Marcel Schwob in 1891. The language of socially unprivileged classes contrasts noticeably with the poetic and refined French used in some passages of the volume. Between these two extremes, one also finds dialects, colloquialisms and, of course, the standard register often mixed with various examples of technical and specialist vocabulary. Some of the stories also contain an important amount of slang. It can be considered an integral part of the text forming the background and the milieu of the story but it can also be used to underline the contrast or modification. Slang also plays an important role in Cœur double as far as the identity is concerned. Thus the obvious connection exists between the character and the language he or she uses in the text. One also notes the constant use of standard (or even formal) French by the narrator as opposed to slang being used exclusively by certain characters. Finally, one should stress the importance of the cryptic function in various passages particularly rich in slang and its correlation with Schwob’s opinions concerning artificial origins of slang expressed in his Étude sur l’argot français.