Cause célèbre
A cause célèbre (/ˌkɔːz səˈlɛb(rə)/ ⓘ KAWZ sə-LEB(-rə),[1] French: [koz selɛbʁ]; pl. causes célèbres, pronounced like the singular) is an issue or incident arousing widespread controversy, outside campaigning, and heated public debate.[2] The term is sometimes used positively for celebrated legal cases for their precedent value (each locus classicus or "case-in-point") and more often negatively for infamous ones, whether for scale, outrage, scandal, or conspiracy theories.[3] The term is a French phrase in common usage in English. Since it has been fully adopted into English and is included unitalicized in English dictionaries,[4][1][5] it is not normally italicized despite its French origin.
It has been noted that the public attention given to a particular case or event can obscure the facts rather than clarify them. As John Humffreys Parry states, "The true story of many a cause célèbre is never made manifest in the evidence given or in the advocates' orations, but might be recovered from these old papers when the dust of ages has rendered them immune from scandal".[6]
Etymology
[edit]In French, one of the meanings of cause is a legal case, and célèbre means "famous". The phrase originated with the 37-volume Nouvelles Causes Célèbres, published in 1763, which was a collection of reports of well-known French court decisions from the 17th and 18th centuries.
While English speakers had used the phrase for many years, it came into much more common usage after the 1894 conviction of Alfred Dreyfus for espionage during the cementing of a period of deep cultural ties with a political tie between England and France, the Entente Cordiale. Both attracted worldwide interest and the period of closeness or rapprochement officially broadened the English language.
See also
[edit]- Trial of the century
- Lists of landmark court decisions
- List of French expressions in English
- Media circus
- Missing white woman syndrome
References
[edit]- ^ a b "cause célèbre". TheFreeDictionary.com. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
- ^ Hirsch, E. D. Jr.; Kett, Joseph F.; Trefil, James, eds. (2002). "cause célèbre". Telecommunications Essay | Bartleby. The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy (3rd ed.). Houghton Mifflin Company. Archived from the original on 21 September 2008 – via Bartleby.com.
- ^ "cause célèbre". Homework Help and Textbook Solutions | bartleby. The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (4th ed.). Houghton Mifflin Company. 2000. Archived from the original on 3 August 2008 – via Bartleby.com.
- ^ "cause célèbre". TheFreeDictionary.com. Retrieved 13 March 2024.
- ^ Random House Kernerman Webster’s College Dictionary. S.v. "cause célèbre." Retrieved November 30, 2018 from https://www.thefreedictionary.com/cause+c%c3%a9l%c3%a8bre
- ^ John Humffreys Parry, "Whistler v. Ruskin: An Attorney's Story of a Famous Trial", in The Living Age (January–March 1921), Vol. 308, p. 346.
External links
[edit]
The dictionary definition of cause célèbre at Wiktionary
Category:Causes célèbres at Wikinews
