Overview

• At a June colloquium in the Assemblée nationale, Jean-Luc Mélenchon argued that French has outgrown its national roots and should be renamed as a “creole” language to reflect its hybrid global use.
• He cited French’s official status in 29 countries as evidence that it no longer belongs exclusively to France despite Niger’s March decision to remove it from its list of official languages.
• Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin denounced Mélenchon’s remarks on X as undermining France’s most precious heritage and fostering national deconstruction.
• Linguists Jean Szlamowicz and Alain Bentolila criticized the proposal for misusing the term “creole” and for oversimplifying the language’s complex historical evolution.
• The controversy highlights a deeper clash between La France Insoumise’s vision of francophonie as a shared global asset and defenders of French as a symbol of national unity.