Despite the controversy, Le Robert defended the inclusion of the word “iel” in his online edition.

Charles Bimbenet, director general of Le Robert Magazines, on Wednesday defended the addition of an online version of his coveted “iel” non-gender pronoun, following criticism from Education Minister Jean-Michel Blanker.

Also read: The addition of the pronoun “iel” to Robert provokes controversy

Also read: “Iel”: Progress or ideological desire?

In a tweet on Tuesday, Mr. In a letter to the French Academy, Blanker expressed his support for Majority Deputy Francois Jolivet, who condemned the introduction of the term, which is mainly used by young audiences.

“I strongly support నిరసన FJolivet36’s protest against PetitRobert. Inclusive writing is not the future of the French language.

In a press release published on Robert’s website, Charles Bimbennett confirmed the inclusion of the word “iel” in his online edition “a few weeks ago” and defended himself against any activism.

If he finds the use of the term “still relatively weak”, he explains that “for a few months, Robert’s librarians used it more and more.”

“Furthermore, the meaning of the word + iel + cannot be understood simply by reading (…) and for those who have seen it, it seemed useful to us to specify whether they would like to use it or whatever. .. Reject it, ”he wrote.

And it should be remembered that “Robert’s aim was to observe and explain the heterogeneous evolution in the movement of a French language.” “Defining words that help the world understand it better. “

“Some have no guilt, Le Robert was not suddenly affected by the + extreme + vocism, + the non-transparent + word (not yet defined, the editor’s note), the definition of which we promise you soon”, he concluded.