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Mediating as French Culture and Economics Collide Mediating as French Culture and Economics Collide
(35 minutes later)
PARIS — Aurélie Filippetti, the granddaughter of an Italian immigrant who worked in France’s coal mines, is finding her own way through the traps and tunnels of austerity and snobbery.PARIS — Aurélie Filippetti, the granddaughter of an Italian immigrant who worked in France’s coal mines, is finding her own way through the traps and tunnels of austerity and snobbery.
Just 41, a novelist who turned away from the Greens to join the larger Socialist Party, she has survived a tough first year as France’s minister of culture and communication, sitting in a chair once occupied by notables like André Malraux, Françoise Giroud, Jack Lang and most recently, Frédéric Mitterrand, the nephew of the former president.Just 41, a novelist who turned away from the Greens to join the larger Socialist Party, she has survived a tough first year as France’s minister of culture and communication, sitting in a chair once occupied by notables like André Malraux, Françoise Giroud, Jack Lang and most recently, Frédéric Mitterrand, the nephew of the former president.
It was Mr. Lang who said, “economy and culture — it’s the same fight,” and that is never more true than now, when President François Hollande, is struggling, against all the instincts of his Socialist Party, to bring down public spending and government debt. It was Mr. Lang who said, “economy and culture — it’s the same fight,” and that has never been more true than now, when President François Hollande is struggling, against all the instincts of his Socialist Party, to bring down public spending and government debt.
Given the emotional and economic importance attached to French culture, it has always been a politically delicate job allocating the state’s largess, but it is especially tough to cut it. Ms. Filippetti has lately been deluged with criticism, much of it vague, for lacking leadership, imagination and vision. Mr. Mitterrand, who served in the center-right administration of President Nicolas Sarkozy but whispered to friends that Mr. Hollande would win the presidency, has been particularly harsh.Given the emotional and economic importance attached to French culture, it has always been a politically delicate job allocating the state’s largess, but it is especially tough to cut it. Ms. Filippetti has lately been deluged with criticism, much of it vague, for lacking leadership, imagination and vision. Mr. Mitterrand, who served in the center-right administration of President Nicolas Sarkozy but whispered to friends that Mr. Hollande would win the presidency, has been particularly harsh.
Ms. Filippetti “has a totally dogmatic approach to culture,” he told the newspaper Le Figaro at the end of June. “I have the sense of a dogmatic grid,” he said, especially in filling key posts at museums and theaters, which he compared to “feudalism.” The Socialists “are in denial of democracy and decide arbitrarily” on projects, Mr. Mitterrand said, while criticizing her simultaneously for an obsession with “democratizing” culture, making it more popular, which he likened to the snake in the Garden of Eden. Ms. Filippetti “has a totally dogmatic approach to culture,” he told the newspaper Le Figaro at the end of June. “I have the sense of a dogmatic grid,” he said, especially in filling key posts at museums and theaters, which he compared to “feudalism.” The Socialists “are in denial of democracy and decide arbitrarily” on projects, Mr. Mitterrand said, while criticizing Ms. Filippetti simultaneously for an obsession with “democratizing” culture, making it more popular, which he likened to the snake in the Garden of Eden.
“The Socialists just don’t have a cultural vision,” he said. “Mr. Hollande is not interested in culture; it’s not in his DNA.”“The Socialists just don’t have a cultural vision,” he said. “Mr. Hollande is not interested in culture; it’s not in his DNA.”
In response, Ms. Filippetti said she found the accusations “inexplicable” and “a little sad.” It’s politics, she noted, a world of “low blows,” but “it’s a pity that Frédéric Mitterrand acts like that.” She accused him of seeking publicity, saying dismissively: “He’s preparing to launch his next book.”In response, Ms. Filippetti said she found the accusations “inexplicable” and “a little sad.” It’s politics, she noted, a world of “low blows,” but “it’s a pity that Frédéric Mitterrand acts like that.” She accused him of seeking publicity, saying dismissively: “He’s preparing to launch his next book.”
Controversies over prestigious appointments come with the job. She was criticized, for example, for saying that she preferred to replace Henri Loyrette as head of the Louvre with a woman, suggesting Sylvie Ramond, director of the Museum of Fine Arts of Lyon. In the end, Mr. Hollande chose Jean-Luc Martinez, head of the Louvre’s antiquities department.Controversies over prestigious appointments come with the job. She was criticized, for example, for saying that she preferred to replace Henri Loyrette as head of the Louvre with a woman, suggesting Sylvie Ramond, director of the Museum of Fine Arts of Lyon. In the end, Mr. Hollande chose Jean-Luc Martinez, head of the Louvre’s antiquities department.
And the news media has tended to focus on her youth, her looks, her hair and her dress, and on some explicit sex scenes in her second novel. And the news media have tended to focus on her youth, her looks, her hair and her dress, and on some explicit sex scenes in her second novel.
In an interview, Ms. Filippetti asserted that she does have a vision of a more representative national culture, one that is less “extravagant,” tries to reach France’s poor and forgotten in the ghetto-like city suburbs and concentrates less on “prestige” projects so beloved by previous French presidents. In an interview, Ms. Filippetti asserted that she did have a vision of a more representative national culture, one that was less “extravagant,” tried to reach France’s poor and forgotten in the ghetto-like city suburbs and concentrated less on “prestige” projects so beloved by previous French presidents.
“We must radically alter this slightly too extravagant image of cultural policy, to awaken deep within all our regions an attachment to culture and the promotion of culture as a lever of economic attractiveness for our country,” she said.“We must radically alter this slightly too extravagant image of cultural policy, to awaken deep within all our regions an attachment to culture and the promotion of culture as a lever of economic attractiveness for our country,” she said.
Culture is an existential need and should be both protected and accessible to everyone, she said, especially given the growing uniformity of choices. “In this hour of globalization many people are lost,” she said. “We can’t find our identity alone in a silent world — it’s culture that allows the world to speak to us.” Why do people love Paris, or Florence or Venice, she asked. “Because when we walk there, the houses, the buildings speak to you.” Culture is an existential need and should be both protected and accessible to everyone, she said, especially given the growing uniformity of choices. “In this hour of globalization many people are lost,” she said. “We can’t find our identity alone in a silent world — it’s culture that allows the world to speak to us.” Why do people love Paris — or Florence or Venice — she asked. “Because when we walk there, the houses, the buildings speak to you.”
In the same vein, she is a fierce defender of France’s “cultural exception” — its system of quotas and subsidies for domestic production — in order to preserve “diversity” and an important French industry. France insists on excluding such subsidies from a proposed European-American free-trade agreement.In the same vein, she is a fierce defender of France’s “cultural exception” — its system of quotas and subsidies for domestic production — in order to preserve “diversity” and an important French industry. France insists on excluding such subsidies from a proposed European-American free-trade agreement.
Part of the focus on her stems simply from the importance of the ministry she runs, and of the ideology behind it.Part of the focus on her stems simply from the importance of the ministry she runs, and of the ideology behind it.
The Ministry of Culture, a creation of De Gaulle, is more important to the French than other, more utilitarian departments. Occupying a stunning building near the Louvre and the Palais Royal, the ministry is all about identity, patrimony, self-image and pride. There is an element of salesmanship, too, given how much France cultivates its reputation as a country of civilization, art, dance, cinema, museums and literature.The Ministry of Culture, a creation of De Gaulle, is more important to the French than other, more utilitarian departments. Occupying a stunning building near the Louvre and the Palais Royal, the ministry is all about identity, patrimony, self-image and pride. There is an element of salesmanship, too, given how much France cultivates its reputation as a country of civilization, art, dance, cinema, museums and literature.
It is also a significant employer, with some 27,000 staff members and more than 1,200 museums catering to millions of visitors, as well as responsibility for architecture, historical monuments like the Eiffel Tower, libraries, archives, theaters and subsidies to both the printed press and the world of audiovisual entertainment.It is also a significant employer, with some 27,000 staff members and more than 1,200 museums catering to millions of visitors, as well as responsibility for architecture, historical monuments like the Eiffel Tower, libraries, archives, theaters and subsidies to both the printed press and the world of audiovisual entertainment.
State spending on culture fell this year and will go down an additional 2.8 percent in 2014, to an estimated $3.12 billion. “In a period of crisis, when there is high unemployment and we wait for some growth, everyone must participate in the budget effort,” she said.State spending on culture fell this year and will go down an additional 2.8 percent in 2014, to an estimated $3.12 billion. “In a period of crisis, when there is high unemployment and we wait for some growth, everyone must participate in the budget effort,” she said.
She has a strategy, she asserted. “Today we must finish completely with this logic of ‘great works,’ of grand extravagant projects” and festivals, she said. All that was fine, even necessary in the 1980s, she said. But today, “people are on the Internet, they communicate with social media, we don’t have the same needs anymore, and we’re in a period of financial crisis. We’re not at Versailles.” She has a strategy, she asserted. “Today we must finish completely with this logic of ‘great works,’ of grand extravagant projects” and festivals, she said. All that was fine, even necessary, in the 1980s, she said. But today, “people are on the Internet, they communicate with social media, we don’t have the same needs anymore, and we’re in a period of financial crisis. We’re not at Versailles.”
While making cuts, however, she has tried “to fight inequalities,” keeping financing for the regions, especially for theater and art, “so the budget cuts don’t worsen the imbalance between Paris and the provinces.”While making cuts, however, she has tried “to fight inequalities,” keeping financing for the regions, especially for theater and art, “so the budget cuts don’t worsen the imbalance between Paris and the provinces.”
In outlying districts and suburbs, she said, she has emphasized teaching for young people in music and dance, and insisted on promoting “urban cultures.” For example, she said, “I adore hip-hop, I find it truly extraordinary,” and praised the singers of “le rap, le slam,” who helped promote the creativity and modernity of the French language. “To defend a language, one has to make it live.” In outlying districts and suburbs, she said, she has emphasized teaching for young people in music and dance, and insisted on promoting “urban cultures.” For example, she said, “I adore hip-hop; I find it truly extraordinary” and praised the singers of “le rap, le slam,” who helped promote the creativity and modernity of the French language. “To defend a language, one has to make it live.”
That was one of the reasons, she said, she canceled a Sarkozy prestige project, a museum of French history. Besides being expensive, she said, “it would have given a completely linear vision, a little monochromatic, of the history of France, which is a pluralist history.”That was one of the reasons, she said, she canceled a Sarkozy prestige project, a museum of French history. Besides being expensive, she said, “it would have given a completely linear vision, a little monochromatic, of the history of France, which is a pluralist history.”
Instead, she said, she put more money into the museum of immigration. It is “part of the recognition we give to those who live in the quartiers, because they are often of immigrant origin.”Instead, she said, she put more money into the museum of immigration. It is “part of the recognition we give to those who live in the quartiers, because they are often of immigrant origin.”
As she is. Her grandfather and father were miners and Communists, and her first novel, “The Last Days of the Working Class,” published in 2003, is set in Lorraine, near where she grew up. Asked why so many in the depressed former industrial north have turned to the far right, instead of to the Socialist Party, she said that it was a region that suffered from deindustrialization and also from history, with two German occupations. As she is. Her grandfather and father were miners and Communists, and her first novel, “The Last Days of the Working Class,” published in 2003, is set in Lorraine, near where she grew up. Asked why so many in the depressed formerly industrial north have turned to the far right, instead of to the Socialist Party, she said that it was a region that had suffered from deindustrialization and also from history, with two German occupations.
“People really had the impression of being sacrificed, of sacrificing themselves for France, for the reconstruction of the country after the war,” she said.“People really had the impression of being sacrificed, of sacrificing themselves for France, for the reconstruction of the country after the war,” she said.
“It corresponds to a very strong feeling of loss,” she said. With few jobs and weak unions, she said, “there is a very clear sense of abandonment. People find themselves alone.” “It corresponds to a very strong feeling of loss,” she said. With few jobs and weak unions, she said, “there is a very clear sense of abandonment — people find themselves alone.”They also, she said, feel victimized by “Europe” and immigration. For such economic distress “we need a European response, and that does not exist, and I think there is a bitterness about that.”
They also, she said, feel victimized by “Europe” and immigration. For such economic distress “we need a European response, and that does not exist, and I think there is a bitterness about that.”
Asked as a novelist what the experience of power has been, she said it was difficult to describe “this terrible shock that is the exercise of power.”Asked as a novelist what the experience of power has been, she said it was difficult to describe “this terrible shock that is the exercise of power.”
“There is a level of violence in interactions that is difficult to explain,” that would require Proust to describe it, she said.“There is a level of violence in interactions that is difficult to explain,” that would require Proust to describe it, she said.