The everyday poetics of gender-inclusive French: strategies for navigating the linguistic landscape

ABSTRACT

In recent years, the heightened debate surrounding gender inclusivity in the French language has been shaped, on the one hand, by the publication of guidebooks on inclusive writing and communication and, on the other hand, by the Académie française’s scathing critique of écriture inclusive in October 2017. This article provides an overview of this debate and the variety of gender-inclusive linguistic strategies currently in use. It gives particular attention to the expression of non-binary gender identities in French, notably through the growing usage of the third-person subject pronoun iel. Given the need for practical solutions, especially for educators working to support non-binary individuals learning French as a second language, the author argues for sustained engagement with everyday poetics. This approach draws on neologisms like iel (which stretch the boundaries of French grammar) and circumlocutions (structures that avoid gendering people while still remaining within the constraints of standard French). The author analyses Anne Garréta’s 1986 novel Sphinx alongside the 2015 English translation to reveal the possibilities as well as the limitations of circumlocution for the genderless/non-binary protagonists, while highlighting literature’s potential to activate language users to participate in alternative linguistic networks that contribute to a more just world.