'Woke culture' has made its way into the French presidential election

'Woke culture' has made its way into the French presidential election

Transcript¹

NPR's Leila Fadel talks to Rokhaya Diallo, a French journalist, commentator² and filmmaker, about the fight against American-style "woke-ism" in France.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

French President Emmanuel Macron is set to face far-right leader Marine³ Le Pen in a runoff later this month. That's the result of a vote over the weekend. The presidential campaign has been dominated in part by a battle against woke culture that's seen as an import from the United States. Candidates of all stripes have shared a rare consensus⁴ in denouncing le wokism. And I asked French journalist, commentator and filmmaker Rokhaya Diallo what that says about race, identity and extremism in France.

ROKHAYA DIALLO: You can have an open discussion on race in the U.S., on gender⁵ in the academy, which is still very, very difficult in France. I remember last year, the minister of higher education started a war against the academics who would work on race and gender and labelled them Islamo-leftists.

FADEL: As we're speaking, the one thing these politicians seem to agree on across the political spectrum⁶ is their rejection⁷ of, quote, "woke culture," describing it as an American import, a foreign concept. Why such outrage⁸ over wokism?

DIALLO: I think that France has billed itself as a colorblind country, which is, of course, not true. The politicians in France really love to oppose themselves to the so-called American idea of race. And you have a new generation of people in France who claim that it's important to address race, to address gender equality in the French context. And the fight against wokeness, which is called wokisme in France, is meant to just dismiss people who are involved and committed to social justice. And to me, it's outrageous⁹ because they are importing, like, the same debate that the Republicans are having in the states against critical race theory.

FADEL: Yeah. I mean, you mention the backlash here in the United States, too. I mean, a similar thing - right? - in the end, it is about wokeness and cancel culture, and, you know, racism¹⁰ is in the past - a post-racial world. And you've been attacked for talking about these exact issues in the French context. Can you talk about being attacked and what it takes to talk about these issues and center them?

DIALLO: Yes, of course. The thing is that France, I think, still sees itself as a white Christian¹¹ country. And it's not true because it's one of the most diverse country in Europe. But when you watch TV, when you watch French film, you don't see that diversity. So as a journalist, I'm one of the very few people of color and Muslim people to appear publicly and to tackle race and gender. And for that reason, I get threats from people online but also critiques even from the government.

FADEL: French Education Minister Jean-Michel Blanquer even launched a publicly funded think tank focused on how French values are at odds¹² with wokism. It's called the Republic Laboratory.

DIALLO: I'm really troubled because I think that they are using their money and the government attention on something that is not worth being supported instead of really focusing on the far right that is really at our doors.

FADEL: So you feel threatened by the far right and the possible outcome of this election.

DIALLO: I really feel threatened. And the fact that the government is focusing on wokeness rather than fighting racism or sexism means that the far right has won; they have made their idea mainstream¹³. And whatever the result of the election is, those ideas will remain in the public space, and we will have to deal with them for the upcoming five years.

FADEL: Diallo says that, in part, one event prompted her to fight racism and bigotry¹⁴ in France, a 2004 law banning the wearing of clearly visible religious symbols or garb¹⁵ in French public schools that many saw as a law that targeted Muslim women and girls.

DIALLO: To me, it was a shock because as a feminist¹⁶, I would think that it was important for all the women to go to school and to get education. So it was one of my first shock because it was every day on television debating about Muslim women without having any of them being part of the debate. And that really pushed me to try to tackle racism in the media and to make sure that our voices as Muslims, as people of color, would not be erased¹⁷ and that people would not speak for us instead of trying to make space for us to speak about ourselves.

FADEL: These questions of representation are also at the heart of Diallo's latest documentary, "The Parisian Uncovered," which shatters stereotypes¹⁸ of what the Parisian woman looks like.

DIALLO: If you type Parisian woman in Google - you know, to search it - you will find always the same type of women, which would mean a white, bourgeois¹⁹, slim and young woman that doesn't really look like all the women that you can find in Paris. And the reason why I made the documentary is that I was born and raised in Paris from a Senegalese and Gambian family, which means I'm Black. And I've never seen someone who looks like me impersonating the idea of the Parisian woman. So the effect that it had on me is that I understood that I couldn't be naturally seen as a French person.

FADEL: French journalist, writer and filmmaker Rokhaya Diallo, thank you so much.

DIALLO: Thank you so much, Leila.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 commentator   

n.注释者，解说者；实况广播评论员

参考例句：

• He is a good commentator because he can get across the game.他能简单地解说这场比赛，是个好的解说者。
• The commentator made a big mistake during the live broadcast.在直播节目中评论员犯了个大错误。

3 marine   

adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵

参考例句：

• Marine creatures are those which live in the sea. 海洋生物是生存在海里的生物。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

4 consensus   

n.(意见等的)一致，一致同意，共识

参考例句：

• Can we reach a consensus on this issue?我们能在这个问题上取得一致意见吗？
• What is the consensus of opinion at the afternoon meeting?下午会议上一致的意见是什么？

5 gender   

n.（生理上的）性，（名词、代词等的）性

参考例句：

• French differs from English in having gender for all nouns.法语不同于英语，所有的名词都有性。
• Women are sometimes denied opportunities solely because of their gender.妇女有时仅仅因为性别而无法获得种种机会。

6 spectrum   

n.谱，光谱，频谱；范围，幅度，系列

参考例句：

• This is a kind of atomic spectrum.这是一种原子光谱。
• We have known much of the constitution of the solar spectrum.关于太阳光谱的构成，我们已了解不少。

7 rejection   

n.拒绝，被拒，抛弃，被弃

参考例句：

• He decided not to approach her for fear of rejection.他因怕遭拒绝决定不再去找她。
• The rejection plunged her into the dark depths of despair.遭到拒绝使她陷入了绝望的深渊。

8 outrage   

n.暴行，侮辱，愤怒；vt.凌辱，激怒

参考例句：

• When he heard the news he reacted with a sense of outrage.他得悉此事时义愤填膺。
• We should never forget the outrage committed by the Japanese invaders.我们永远都不应该忘记日本侵略者犯下的暴行。

9 outrageous   

adj.无理的，令人不能容忍的

参考例句：

• Her outrageous behaviour at the party offended everyone.她在聚会上的无礼行为触怒了每一个人。
• Charges for local telephone calls are particularly outrageous.本地电话资费贵得出奇。

10 racism   

n.民族主义；种族歧视(意识)

参考例句：

• He said that racism is endemic in this country.他说种族主义在该国很普遍。
• Racism causes political instability and violence.种族主义道致政治动荡和暴力事件。

11 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

12 odds   

n.让步，机率，可能性，比率；胜败优劣之别

参考例句：

• The odds are 5 to 1 that she will win.她获胜的机会是五比一。
• Do you know the odds of winning the lottery once?你知道赢得一次彩票的几率多大吗？

13 mainstream   

n.（思想或行为的）主流；adj.主流的

参考例句：

• Their views lie outside the mainstream of current medical opinion.他们的观点不属于当今医学界观点的主流。
• Polls are still largely reflects the mainstream sentiment.民调还在很大程度上反映了社会主流情绪。

14 bigotry   

n.偏见，偏执，持偏见的行为[态度]等

参考例句：

• She tried to dissociate herself from the bigotry in her past.她力图使自己摆脱她以前的偏见。
• At least we can proceed in this matter without bigotry.目前这件事咱们至少可以毫无偏见地进行下去。

15 garb   

n.服装，装束

参考例句：

• He wore the garb of a general.他身着将军的制服。
• Certain political,social,and legal forms reappear in seemingly different garb.一些政治、社会和法律的形式在表面不同的外衣下重复出现。

16 feminist   

adj.主张男女平等的，女权主义的

参考例句：

• She followed the feminist movement.她支持女权运动。
• From then on,feminist studies on literature boomed.从那时起，男女平等受教育的现象开始迅速兴起。

17 erased   

v.擦掉( erase的过去式和过去分词 )；抹去；清除

参考例句：

• He erased the wrong answer and wrote in the right one. 他擦去了错误答案，写上了正确答案。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He removed the dogmatism from politics; he erased the party line. 他根除了政治中的教条主义，消除了政党界限。 来自《简明英汉词典》

18 stereotypes   

n.老套，模式化的见解，有老一套固定想法的人( stereotype的名词复数 )v.把…模式化，使成陈规( stereotype的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Such jokes tend to reinforce racial stereotypes. 这样的笑话容易渲染种族偏见。
• It makes me sick to read over such stereotypes devoid of content. 这种空洞无物的八股调，我看了就讨厌。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

19 bourgeois   

adj./n.追求物质享受的(人)；中产阶级分子

参考例句：

• He's accusing them of having a bourgeois and limited vision.他指责他们像中产阶级一样目光狭隘。
• The French Revolution was inspired by the bourgeois.法国革命受到中产阶级的鼓励。