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Friday, October 29, 2004
They Just Want To Understand
Slate's Elisabeth Eaves reviews the recent flood of French books on America. It seems that the French are just trying to make sense of the world's only superpower. Sure.
America is a shark. Full of religious zealots. Who are deeply divided against themselves.These are just a few descriptions of the United States gleaned from just-released French books devoted to deciphering and explaining the other red, white, and blue. Parisian editors are dining out on a new subgenre that includes tirades, serious academic tomes, election-timed quickies by celebrity journalists, and even a novel, Frenchy, about a Parisian living in Texas when the United States invaded Iraq.
The protagonist in Frenchy, who runs a French food store, suffers prolific insults, and a veteran urinates in his garden. Still, one of his nicer neighbors tells him that America "has nothing to do with those guys in Washington." The review in Le Figaro said the novel was "as valuable as the best courses in international relations at the most prestigious universities."
You can't beat The Shark and the Seagull, by former Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin, for the author's way with metaphor. It's about the rotten state of trans-Atlantic relations. (I'll let readers guess which country is which in the book's title.) The takeaway, though, isn't clear. The shark refuses to be halted. The seagull listens. They must reconcile their values, which will save the world. Or something like that.
Some of the other new works include France Against the Empire, Empire of Chaos, The Emperor of the White House, Imperial America, The Good Fortune of Not Being American, and Democracy With an Obscene Face. The last, by Jacques Vergès, a lawyer who has volunteered to defend Saddam Hussein, is illustrated with photographs of prisoner abuse inside Abu Ghraib.
Titles notwithstanding, the new books are not all polemics. Anti-Americanism is certainly present in France, but the chattering classes are making a serious attempt to understand both the United States and the Franco-U.S. dynamic. Earnest broadcasters ask the new Americologists questions like, "Do we hate Americans because we try to imitate them?"
Posted by PUBLIUS on October 29, 2004 at 09:37 AM | Permalink
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Comments
While the bulk of the report is interesting, I must take objection to Ms. Eaves use of "the other red, white, and blue". Perhaps this was an honest error on her part, but it shows her lack of knowledge of the two countries as well. America is not "the other red, white, and blue", we are the ONLY major country to use such a reference. (I really can't imagine Russians shouting out the term, but if they do, please correct me).
Additionally, saying it as if they are the same is just downright attrocious to read. While the U.S. flag does not explicitly have meanings for the colours, the ideas may be pulled from the colors of the Great Seal, which does.
White - Purity and innocence
Red - Hardiness and valor
Blue - Vigilance, perseverance, and justice
This is in complete contrast with the French flag, which merely represents various dynasties through time.
White: the color of the Bourbon kings.
Red: the dynasty of the Carolingians
Blue: the Capetians
Additionally, "... by 1789 the colours of Paris (red and blue) were no longer in use; more probable is that La Fayette just adopted the colours of the American Revolution (blue, red and white). Most historians, including those in France, agree with this last version..." (wikipedia)
It may be a minor point in the article, but it really ruffled me to read that someone thinks of the colors in even remotely the same manner.
Posted by: Themis | Oct 29, 2004 12:07:19 PM
