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| The
USA as seen by the French (#4) |
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| The Americans the "French Democrats"
like the most |
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America as seen by the
French in history |
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Le Nouvel Observateur is a weekly magazine which could be
considered the French equivalent of Time or Newsweek.
Its circulation is around 600,000. It is politically on the (moderate)
left wing, a French equivalent of Democrat. In its Jan.22, 2004 issue, it ran a cover story on the theme " The
America we love There is not only the America of Bush"
(not to mention D.Trump...) and it is interesting to see which American personalities it
mentions, devoting between one column and a page to each of them
:
- " The neo-populists "
: Michael Moore (with his picture on the cover) & Jim Hightower
- " The joker " : Howard
Dean
- " The radicals " :
Barbara Ehrenreich & Ralph Nader
- " The subversives "
: Naomi Klein, Trey Parker & Matt Stone
- " The new economists "
: Paul Krugman
- " The cyber-anarchists
" : Elie Pariser & Richard Stallman
- " The alternatives "
: Lori Wallach & Jeremy Rifkin
- " The new feminists "
: Catherine MacKinnon & Gayle Rubin
- " The moralists "
: Alfred Ross & Barry Lynn
- " The dissidents "
: Mitchell Cohen, Michael Walzer, John Podesta & Bob Boorstin
- " The Culture rebels "
: Sean Penn, Don DeLillo, Chuck Palahniuk, Jay McInerney, Bret
Easton Ellis, Dave Eggers, Nan Goldin, R.L.Burnside, Ani DiFranco,
Marilyn Manson & Eminem
The magazine's
view is not shared by everybody in France and most of the people
cited are little known or unknown but it is interesting to consider
the choice made by a respected magazine, with a large circulation
among the " intellectuels ". |
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18th Century (Voltaire, Buffon) writers saw America
as "the cold continent", inhospitable, where animal species
are smaller than on other continents and men too, where dogs
do not bark (this is not a joke, this ridiculous image was shared
all over Europe!), etc ; in a well-known anecdote, Benjamin Franklin,
then US embassador in Paris, invited the most notorious French
writers and lined them along the wall with the American guests,
who were much taller... (read about this anecdote).
This kind of stupid vision was shared all over Europe, even by
highly regarded scientists. Read Roger about it.
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The 19th Century (Baudelaire being a typical example
of this anti-Americanism) is the age of the myth of "the ungrateful Yankee" : arrogant, thinking only of money, no manners,
etc... and the conspiracy of American businessmen and bankers
to take over the world, no gratitude for the help provided by
France for the Independence of the USA (it sounds familiar, doesn't
it?). More about gratitude.
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With the 20th Century, comes the "fear
of the hyper-power"
: Roger dates this
new form of anti-Americanism from the invasion of Cuba in 1898
as the first time the USA became a threat for an European country
; later, with the influence of USSR and communism on European
"intellectuels"
America became, for the left wing (and typically Sartre), the
symbol of imperialism, but this was very controversial and in
the 1950-1960s the left-wing anti-Americanism was not shared
by all "intellectuels" : the controversies between
Sartre and Raymond Aron illustrate it.
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See a short bibliography
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In a time of mutual French- bashing and anti- Americanism,
articles like this present a non-stereotypical face of the U.S.
most French people never read or hear about.
Other very popular American figures include B.Obama (of course), Clint Eastwood, etc... |
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Contrary to what many Americans
believe, the image of the USA is very good (62% favorable) and
the French have a relatively good knowledge of the country and
of its culture, certainly much better than the knowledge of France
by Americans. See more about American
insularity.
WARNING ! As emphasized in several pages of this
site, the image of America and Americans is very positive in
France and it is easy to see that the French love American movies,
the American way of life etc.. and admire American society ;
it is also a fact, which must be stressed too, that Americans,
as persons, are considered very friendly and NEVER subject to
aggressive behavior from French people. Nevertheless, European
and French anti-Americanism does exist and it has taken, throughout
history, several forms in largely spread stereotypes : they are
summarized in this section.
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| What is the popular image the French have of America? |
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What the French do not understand about America and Americans.... |
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America is a huge continent,
with a variety of people and of situations but, from a foreign
country like France, only a few caricatures of them make up the
image of America (the French have no idea how big and varied
the country is).
Among the most stereotyped visions of America, some negative,
most positive :
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A country of big cities : New York, with its skyscrapers, THE
image of America, San Francisco, probably the city the French
like the most, Chicago, associated with the image of Al Capone,
fire-trucks and their sirens, etc.
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A country of big people : the French cannot believe the number
of obese people they see in the streets
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Powerful characters : John Wayne, the lonesome cowboy, valiant
and hearty (but in France, cow-boys are always associated with
Indians, seen as victims of the latter)
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A powerful culture : the richness of the music (folk,
jazz, rock,..), Cambridge Mass. and the beauty of American campuses,
Hollywood, etc.... Read about American
artists the French like the most.
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Imported consumer products, which are OUR image of America here
and which are not always the best of America : fast food (McDonald's
: see José Bové),
TV series (daily adventures of stupid Californian kids), etc....
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A country of high criminality : reinforced by American popular culture
(TV, films, mystery stories) and statistics : 8 times more people
in jail per 1000 inhabitants in the USA (see figures).
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More to come....
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Political correctness : the French value contradiction and conflict and they believe that children raised in a society which wants to keep them away from any situation where "their feelings could be hurt" would leave them powerless in front of real life in the real society (see more about Franco-US differences).
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Gun control : The American attitude regarding guns is impossible to understand by the French (and probably by anybody outside the US). Who can reasonably believe that owning an AK 47 can protect you and reduce the crime rate ? Read my column about it.
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The constant mix of moral pretexts and political or business issues (an example : to try to eliminate the French train company in a bid, a Californian politician and a few lobbyists demanding an apology for its alleged complicity with Nazi crimes : read more about it)
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Trials : the judicial system is very different (see French judicial
system) (but now, influenced by US TV programs, young delinquents
have started calling the judge "Your Honor " instead
of "Monsieur le Président")
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More to come ....
A few examples of Americans situations
that baffle the French because they have no equivalent in
France:
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The mix of formality and
informality : high school ceremonies, with all the girls
dressed up, everybody eating and drinking in paper cups, formal
speeches and relaxed behavior, etc...
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An example : The President of the USA in
cow-boy boots. In 2003, when George W.Bush invited his G-8
colleagues to his ranch for their annual meeting, he asked them
to dress casually : for the French and the Japanese - and maybe
some other Europeans- it was a very insulting lack of respect
to their function and Chirac came with his usual tie and suit (so did the Japanese Prime Minister).
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The President of France participating in an event like National Prayer Day is unthinkable in France and would be criticized by a huge majority of the people i.e. including most of the believers. In a secularized society, the head of the state must not be a participant in a religious manifestation. Read more.
- In his opening address to the U.S. House Jan.3, 2021, Missouri Rep. Emmanuel Cleaver broke three rules which are very important for the French : the "laïcité" (no prayer in a public building even moreso in the Parliament), the ridiculous abuse of political correctness (he ended the speech by "A-men and A-Women") and the grammatical rules (you do not mix a Hebrew ethymology with an English word).
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A
strong and positive popular image ! The weekly magazine Version Femina published
(October 19, 2008) a very interesting survey on the image of
the USA for the French. Asked about what the USA evokes spontaneously
for them, they answer :
- Globally : power (14%), New-York,
George W.Bush, liberty, dollar, imperialism, etc...
- Places : New-York (53%), the
White House, Hollywood, Las Vegas, Grand Canyon, Silicon Valley,
etc...
- Movie directors : Steven Spielberg
(66%), Clint Eastwood, Woody Allen, Francis Ford Coppola, George
Lucas, Quentin Tarantino, etc...
- Brand names : Coca-Cola (67%),
McDonald's, Harley-Davidson, Disney, Nike, Levi's,etc...
- Singers : Elvis Presley (59%),
Madonna, Louis Armstrong, Michael Jackson, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen,
etc...
- American lifestyle : fast-food
(72%), basket-ball, jeans, pop-corn, tee-shirt, motels, etc...
- TV series : Dallas (46%), Without a Trace, Desperate Housewives, Emergency Ward, Alert
in Malibu, Prison Break, etc...
See
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Miscellaneous facts & figures
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- Still, with almost 300,000,
the largest French community abroad is in the USA : see
the figures.
- More to come...
- Read :
- What is making the headlines
in France ?
- A poll
on the image of the USA among the French.
- A short bibliography
on America as seen by the French
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| To related pages : more intercultural (#1), anti-americanism (#2),intercultural
management (#3), more intercultural (#5),
the US press(#6), French values(#7), America and the world (#10), etc... |
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For more on intercultural
differences, order Harriet Welty Rochefort's books:
- "Joie de Vivre", Secrets of Wining, Dining and Romancing like the French, St.Martin's Press, New York, 2012
- "French Toast, An American in Paris
Celebrates The Maddening Mysteries of the French", St.Martin's Press,
New York, 1999
- "French Fried, The Culinary Capers
of An American in Paris", St.Martin's Press, New York, 2001
More on Harriet's books (excerpts, upcoming
events, testimonials, etc..)
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