And off I went to Paris to find out.
There is a lot more to France than its capital, of course. But I had to make a choice of where to go in the short time available, and there was a keystone public meeting planned for the Ecole Militaire close to Eiffel Tower.
Even so, the important part of my work was done beyond the end of the Metro line 1, at the grand mosque in Paris's fifth arrondissement and on the phone to a French-Algerian academic and a Cameroonian prefect. Not to mention a spot of research at home and on the badminton court in Chiswick, west London.
These were the locations where I found the people of French nationality with the most interesting things to say in answer to the question in my headline.
Some of the results of my work appeared in The National, Abu Dhabi on Saturday. But I didn't have room for it all. So here, for Salut! readers interested in this great national debate currently preoccupying France, is a selection of the views offered to me.
I have included the ones quoted in the paper's full-page coverage, and those for which there was in the event no space:
Brigitte Perrier, 49, personal assistant (previously a teacher) and mother of two, married to an Englishman:
“Having worked alongside foreigners here and as a foreigner abroad, I am struck by how it changes how we perceive our own countries. I know my roots are in France, but retain a critical eye on the overloaded administration, a certain arrogance and a tendency always to complain. On the plus side, I find it more tolerant than the Anglo-Saxon world in some ways and more respectful of privacy."
(Brigitte's children were split. Her daughter felt equally French and British, her son more British, which he attributed mainly to his fondness for reading books in English.
Pierre N’Gahane (first picture), 46, France’s first black prefect (administrative head of the Alpes-de-Haute Provence), born of Cameroonian parents in Congo-Brazzaville, where his father was then working, and educated in part at the Catholoic university of Lille:
“It is for the body politic, not me, to decide on this national debate, but it is legitimate and, I believe, important. The world, France included, is in a state of evolution and movement and we must construct new values we can share together for the future. I also believe in fundamental French values of freedom, fraternity and citizenship and would say the most important test of French identity is to be able to say, ‘I love France and would be ready to die for it’.”
Nabila Ramdani, 31, French-born of Algerian parents, journalist and academic currently studying for a PhD on the rise of Egyptian nationalism:
“There is no need for anyone to tell people like me who and what we are. I feel utterly French, though I obviously love my Algerian side, too. But there is discrimination. It is well known that ethnic minorities have problems in getting jobs and housing because they are seen as not French enough. It is strangely better in the private than public sector. My objection to the debate is that once you try to come up with fixed definitions of what it is to be French, you start to exclude people. Why can’t we be a people of multiple identities?”
Claude Roëls, professor of philosophy, French of Belgian family origins:
“It is a good subject, but the timing is cynical and makes the exercise artificial. But if you ask me what is the essential to being French, it is the ability to speak French. Respect for tradition is less important; a tradition in Normandy might be to drink Calvados and eat saucisson. You would not expect a Muslim to do that but he might be no less French.”
Malika Sorel, a French-Algerian writer attached to a government body, the High Council for Integration, and attending the Ecole Militaire discussions):
"France has to find a way of instilling more discipline and belief in education in the young. But it must also stop lying to people of immigrant backgrounds. Even students leaving the Grandes Ecoles can have problems finding proper employment, but it is worse if you are from a poorer background and get the same diplomas as anywhere else but find they are somehow seen as less valuable because of where you studied.”
Mohammed, 31, a French-born policeman of Moroccan parents:
“The question should not be ‘what does it mean to be French?’ but ‘do you feel French?’. And I am afraid that I do not. There are many reasons, but above all it’s a matter of my appearance and my name. In France, I am not considered French but in my parents’ home country, I am not considered Moroccan. It is as if I have no identity.”
Marianne Ferdinand, 32, pedicurist, three-quarters French, one quarter German, married to a man born in France to Portuguese parents:
"I have the most nationalistic of first names (though my parents did not choose it for that reason), I know the words of La Marseillaise, my identity card says République Française, I know my French geography, I vote in elections because it is a right and civic duty and I pay my taxes, But I am one quarter German and my husband is French of Portuguese origin. But sometimes I feel much more than a quarter German; now I also feel a little Portuguese. In short I am a French citizen but with multicultural influences I feel more European than anything. The question of national identity makes me smile; it's another way of our government keeping good citizens like sheep while taking decisions on other issues, so that we don't even notice and ask no questions?"
Clem Théron, 23, from Toulouse, working in London and planning to be a conference interpreter (off to Toronto in the new year and aiming eventually to work at the UN):
"There is much I am proud of about France and being French: our food, for example ("adding later: "I do not eat snails. I have never eaten snails"). But I know my future lies outside France. I do not like the state of our politics or the kind of people who are currently in charge."
I think Mohammed has it right: The question should not be, "What does it mean to be French?" but, "Do you feel French?"
You could ask 1,000 people the first question and get 1,000 different but equally valid answers, which collectively would tell you very little about national identity. A thousand people, of whatever ethnic origin, saying, "Yes, I feel French" would, I believe, tell you more.
Incidentally, what is your answer to the question of what it means to be French?
Posted by: Bill Taylor | December 08, 2009 at 04:23 PM