Robert defends himself from any “wokism”, after having integrated the pronoun “iel” in his online dictionary – BFMTV

The editions confirmed that the neutral pronoun “iel” was added to the digital editions of the dictionary a few weeks ago. At the same time, he defended himself from any activism.

The Robert responds to his detractors, Jean-Michel Blanquer in the lead. The editions defended, this Wednesday, to have wanted to show militancy or “acute wokism” by adding the non-gendered pronoun “iel” to their online dictionaries. Le Petit Robert defines “iel”, a contraction of “he” and “she”, as a pronoun “used to refer to a person of any gender”.

“No, no offense to some, The Robert was not suddenly affected by acute ‘wokism’, writes Charles Bimbenet, general manager of Le Robert editions in a first version ofa press release published on the group’s website this Wednesday.

“Is it useful to remember that Le Robert, like all dictionaries, includes many words carrying ideas, present or past, societal trends, etc.?”, Continues the text. “Which is obviously not worth assent or adhesion to the meaning conveyed by these words.”

Jean-Michel Blanquer offended by this entry

Jean-Michel Blanquer had crushed this morning the arrival of this definition on the website – the paper edition is not concerned for the time being. The Minister of Education, a fervent opponent of inclusive writing, gave his support to the majority deputy François Jolivet, who had denounced the inclusion of this word, mainly used by a young audience, in a letter to the French Academy.

“I obviously support François Jolivet’s protest against Le Petit Robert. Inclusive writing is not the future of the French language. Even though our students are in the process of consolidating their fundamental knowledge, they cannot have that for reference, “wrote Jean-Michel Blanquer.

In the month of last May, the minister had already issued a circular aiming to rule out “so-called inclusive writing within National Education”, and a similar decision had been taken in October by President LR of the Auvergne region. Rhône-Alpes Laurent Wauquiez.

“Define the words that say the world”

In his press release, the director of Robert confirms that this pronoun was added to his online dictionary “a few weeks ago”. He acknowledges that the use of this word is “still relatively weak”, but explains that “for a few months, the Robert librarians” have noticed that it was used more and more.

“In addition, the meaning of the word ‘iel’ cannot be understood by reading it alone (…) and it seemed useful to us to specify its meaning for those who meet it, whether they wish to use it or on the contrary … reject it, “he wrote.

And to recall that “Robert’s mission is to observe the evolution of a French language in movement, diverse, and to give an account of it. To define the words which speak about the world, it is to help to better understand it” . Finally, Charles Bimbenet concluded his statement by promising a future definition of the word “wokism”: “A ‘non-transparent’ word (not yet defined: editor’s note) whose definition we promise you soon”.