vive la france!

Let me preface this post by saying that I like France. Despite my strange allergic reaction to Paris about two years ago, I am not a Francophobe. I like French wine, French literature, French sauce, French fashion, and France in general. I particularly like discussing French literature, in French, while wearing French fashion, drinking French wine and eating something covered in French sauce. Oui, c’est vraiment parfait, n’est pas?

Eh, ben…(translation, for those of you who weren’t in my high school French class: Uh, well….) this does not mean that France doesn’t totally befuddle me. There is a particularly amazing article in the most recent New Yorker on Dieudonné M’Bala M’Bala which illustrates perfectly the nature of my befuddlement. Dieudonné (which just happens to mean God-given, btw) is a successful half-Cameroonian half-French comedian turned politician. Midway through his career, he also became a vocal anti-semite and a leading advocate for the pygmies (who, in case you are wondering, live mostly in Cameroon).

If you think this is all a bit strange, well spotted, because it really is. I’m not in any way qualified to speak on the current state of French racial or religious politics, but clearly, there are some issues going on, and not just in the banlieue. What really struck me, though, was the number of times the French Revolution, the Enlightenment and even Voltaire are mentioned in this article.

When asked if he has a problem with all Jews, Dieudonné says: “If you are French and attached to the philosophy of the Enlightenment – the universal – you do not recognize the border” between religious groups. And his closing line is even better: “The French Revolution is my tradition. It’s a mind-set of the French, that you need a revolution. I am deeply French.” I was waiting for a mention of Rousseau and the general will, but thankfully, that didn’t come up.

Dieudonné is justifying anti-Semitism on the basis that Judaism transgresses the universal ideals of the French Revolution. For some reason, this message has been a huge hit with the youth of the banlieue, and others. I had a predictably Arendtian reaction to the idea, and anyone who has read On Revolution will understand instantly why. I find it amazing that more than 200 years later, some people are still relishing the ideals of the French Revolution. Perhaps they are forgetting it wasn’t a raging success? The King was kaput, yes, but then there was the whole guillotine debacle, and that funky new calendar that never quite caught on, and if I remember correctly, it all ended with a small yet surprisingly feisty Emperor rampaging around Europe. A change, definitely, but most people would argue it could have been handled better.

The ideals of the French Revolution are still very much a presence in French political life, just as we like to quote the Constitution in this country. Nothing wrong with that, per se, except that, in America, the Revolution itself is over. For Dieudonné and those who agree with him, though, it seems that the Revolution is not quite finished. Universal enlightenment has yet to be achieved, apparently. Go figure. While it’s true that Thomas Jefferson wanted the Constitution to be thrown out every seven years so it wouldn’t get stale, T.J. and the Founders (good name for a band, yes?) didn’t actually put that clause into the Constitution. They realized, as Marx did not, that a permanent revolution creates all kinds of problems.

Of course, Dieudonné does not represent France, or the majority of French people. At the same time, though, he is not a complete political or social outlier. Neither is Jean-Marie Le Pen, for that matter. While neither will ever be President, they have support, lots of fans, and most befuddling of all, it seems they also have the universal ideals of the ongoing French Revolution to back them up.