A report in today's newspapers appears to show that the jaundiced British view of the French is shared across Europe.
Two Frenchmen who asked people across Europe to come up with adjectives to describe the French received a string of negative epithets - chauvinistic, pretentious, vain, shallow and so on. Today's Telegraph delightedly puts the story on its front page, observing impartially that "typically, the French refuse to accept what arrogant, overbearing monsters they are".
In fact the study, entitled "Why the French are the Worst Company on the Planet", reveals at least as much about the people surveyed as about the French. So while the (serious) Germans dismiss the French as frivolous, the (fiery) Spanish see them as "cold and distant", the (taciturn) Dutch find them "talkative" and the (punctilious, authority-obsessed) Swedes see them as "disobedient, immoral, disorganised, neo-colonialist and dirty". The British, for the record, described the French as "chauvinistic, stubborn, nannied and humourless" - just the same words they chose to describe us.
Posted by Sheila Pulham at May 17, 2005 02:10 PM
Comments
I think people are being too hard on France. I know this appeals to English sentiments, but chances are, people would find negatives to describe any nationality they were asked about. What is interesting is that many of the descriptions are contradictory and say more about the national characters of the countries concerned.
Comments posted by: Conall at May 17, 2005 02:46 PM
Swedes authority obsessed? That's Americans.
Comments posted by: Johan at May 17, 2005 02:56 PM
No need to repeat Bart Simpson's (wholly accurate!) remarks. But honestly, the nation that gave us Jacques Tati, the Citroen Deux Cheveux and the croissant! And French cinema, well, with all due respect to Truffaut and Goddard, it really is largely a triumph of style over substance. A truly preposterous country.
Comments posted by: Adrian Pygott at May 17, 2005 02:57 PM
Well, to a French, you see right through me, all this is very funny...I read once on this excellent website, on the topic of l'entente cordiale, that the people are generally opinionated about the French, but so little about the Germans, the Spaniards, the Eskimos. Why? A mere love-hate relationship, I suppose. It if were real, hard-core hatred, we'd get Brits sowing bombs in Parisian poubelles, nay?
Mind you, there was a time when some called it jealousy, but who'd be jealous of France now? An aging, whining country like mine? Funnily enough, there are elements to be envious of, but they are so unspoken of (well, almost, otherwise how would be the Brits are buying all the French estate left in our countrysides?).
So there it is: I believe (and everybody else too) its fascination more than hatred, fascination of the barking, loud-mouthed underdog.
Comments posted by: alexandre at May 17, 2005 02:58 PM
Tati was not French.
Comments posted by: Johan at May 17, 2005 02:58 PM
Study with absolutely no value whatsoever. One thing to remember: France is colonized every summer by Brits, germans and Dutch. French country side has been bought by northern europeans. Maybe somebody should mention that the French built themselves a beautiful country?
Comments posted by: Philippe at May 17, 2005 02:59 PM
Well, given M. Chirac's dubious efforts at diplomacy towards the newer members of the EU, it wouldn't surprise me if the French were not particularly popular there.
Nuclear testing in the South Pacific isn't a great way to build popularity either...
Comments posted by: alex at May 17, 2005 03:04 PM
Vive la France!
Mort aux Francais!
Comments posted by: Ab at May 17, 2005 03:08 PM
mmm daily telegraph.... they always know how to write quality articles. ance has more to offer than Spain or Sweden or even UK. Their food is deffinitelly better than english or Swedish food. And what people who have spoken of France actually know about France? maybe french are a bit arrogant, but not all and they deffinitelly have a lot of nice things to show. What is actually the point of the article? To show that French are bad and we are good?????if i want to read such an article i would read the sun or the daily telegraph
Comments posted by: Paul at May 17, 2005 03:11 PM
The French are great, i love them.
Great footballers, delicious wines, a longstanding commitment to the unity of all classes and religions, absence of the stench of ethnocentricity and xenophobia which has marked so many great nations, a fiery independant spirit that saw them be the first to wrest control (albeit temporarily) from higher class parasites. Stubborn defiance of US imperialism (when co-operation would have been more in their interest)based on principle.
Viva le bleus
Comments posted by: B Forde at May 17, 2005 03:12 PM
Stereotyping an entire nation is idiotic and absurd. The Telegraph publishing a story which fuels xenophobia is worse. At best this "story" is on a par with tabloid page-three journalism - it has absolutely no journalistic value - it exists simply to titilate. At worst it might be seen as actively promoting racism. Should the British not be more worried about how they themselves are viewed?
Comments posted by: Pete at May 17, 2005 03:13 PM
