In French-Speaking Canada, the Sacred Is Also Profane

I've blogged about 'profanity' before. I've pointed out that it is usually about the desire to shock the powerful and assert thereby a group solidarity over and against those experienced as oppressive. So 'profanity' or 'swearing' is not a simple issue and Christian attitudes about it often reveal that we're more beholden to the powers that be than the early Christian church might have found believable. But what happens if the oppressor is the church? Well ...

the Quebecois ... adopt commonplace Catholic terms -- and often creative permutations of them -- for swearing. In doing so, their oaths speak volumes about the history of this French province.
"When you get mad, you look for words that attack what represses you," said Louise Lamarre, a Montreal cinematographer who must tread lightly around the language, depending on whether her films are in French or English. "In America, you are so Puritan that the swearing is mostly about sex. Here, since we were repressed so long by the church, people use religious terms."
And the words that are shocking in English -- including the slang for intercourse -- are so mild in Quebecois French they appear routinely in the media.

It is true that some linguistic minorities use words to swear that come from the majority language community, and perhaps, assuming that is true, it is about showing a degree of contempt ...? I suspect that the psychological dimension is using words contemptuously that would shock and distress members of an oppressive community. I recall that Iberian Spanish uses some religious words in a way similar to the Quebecois.

It's not the words, it's there sociolinguistic impact that's the issue. If we are to have an ethic of profanity we need to situate it accurately in terms of the performative value it has. I note that the Apostle Paul used strong language in order to get a strong point across strongly. Sometimes language should be used shockingly; the verbal equivalent of turning over tables in the temple. Sometimes, probably more often, we need to remember the sensibilities of others and the impression we leave ...
In French-Speaking Canada, the Sacred Is Also Profane - washingtonpost.com:Filed in: profanity, swearing, language, linguistics, sociology, Quebec, French