Latin et langues vivantes dans l'Encyclopédie

Luciana Alocco Bianco : Latin and Modem languages in the Encyclopédie. The dilemma of whetether to teach Latin or modern languages which can be seen in such articles as COLLÈGE, DICTIONNAIRE, ÉCOLE MILITAIRE, EDUCATION, ÉTUDES etc, is resolved in favour of foreign languages. While recognising that Latin is the language of the learned, indispensible for the «communication of enlightenment», the authors of the Encyclopédie accord the Latin learnt by students in religious collèges a separate place. That Latin represents education in the hands of the Jesuits and is thus to be dismantled, for it is lagging behind an advancing society which has more and more need for specialists. Thus the military academy on one hand and modern languages on the other become the symbol of a new secular education to be defended and encouraged.Alocco-Bianco Luciana. Latin et langues vivantes dans l'Encyclopédie. In: Recherches sur Diderot et sur l'Encyclopédie, n°20, 1996. pp. 141-147