Within a span of four months, France will be the host for the Paris Olympics. The question looms, however, over which version of France will be in the spotlight? With a wide chasm between the old and the new, France is grappling with an identity crisis.
The consideration of having Aya Nakamura, a highly celebrated French-Malian vocalist, whose song lyrics have a strong lacing of slang and greatly deviate from standard French, as the performer for the opening ceremony, has led to an uproar. The controversy brings to the forefront racial issues, linguistic suitability and matters relating to immigration. Critics from the political right-wing argue that Nakamura’s music is not reflective of France and her possible performance has triggered a flood of racial slurs against her on the internet. French legal authorities in Paris are consequently conducting a probe.
This commotion has intensified the dispute over an official poster that was showcased recently. Depicting a pastel representation of the city’s iconic structures filled with people in a bustling style akin to the Where’s Waldo? children’s books, the poster has come under fire. Conservative critics have condemned the image, calling it a calculated watering down of the French national identity and its history in lieu of a sugary, unquestionable blandness. This is prominently reflected in the removal of the cross from the golden dome of the Invalides, the erstwhile military hospital where Napoleon is laid to rest. The Journal du Dimanche, a right-wing newspaper, observed that, through this image, “the discomfort of a nation undergoing deconstruction” is patently evident.
The tumultuous debate over the Olympics’ cultural representation in France originated from a meeting that took place on 19th February at the Élysée Palace. The gathering was between the French President Emmanuel Macron and Nakamura, aged 28. Macron, also serving as the artistic director for the Olympics, proposed that she perform at the event.
Nakamura enjoys huge popularity in France and internationally, more than any other French singer. She has 25 top 10 singles in France and a following of over 20 million on social media. Born in Bamako, Mali as Aya Danioko, she adopted her stage name from a character in Heroes, an NBC science fiction series. Having grown up in the suburbs of Paris, she creates music blending French lyrics with Arabic, English, and West African tongues like Bambara, her parents’ native Malian language. Her music is a fusion of R&B, zouk and synchronous rhythms of Afropop.
Marine Le Pen, the chief of the National Rally party in France, criticised the potential selection of Nakamura, whom she deemed unqualified to represent the French nation, on the basis of her singing in an unidentified language — definitely not French, according to Le Pen. She described the situation as a deliberate affront to the French people, allegedly perpetrated by Emmanuel Macron, and aired these views during a France Inter radio broadcast.
Nakamura, a singer possessing dual citizenships of France and Mali since 2021, did not publicly respond to the controversy other than a few posts on social media – previously known as Twitter – encouraging her detractors that one could be racially prejudiced and not audibly challenged simultaneously. Her position exemplifies the societal discomfort around France’s progressively more diverse and curious population struggling against the archaic French notion of homogeneous citizenship that obscures individual identities.
French author, activist, and filmmaker Rokhaya Diallo drew attention to the prevailing “identity panic”. She proposed the concept that France is averse to acknowledging its authentic national image and that a “white France” feels increasingly alarmed, a sentiment not experienced 30 years back. Citing examples like football sensation Kylian Mbappé and Nakamura, Diallo inferred, the bias faced by Nakamura due to her heritage is unjust, as her imaginative linguisticstyle gets misinterpreted as incompetence rather than artistic prowess.
Nakamura, the eldest amongst her five siblings and a single mother of two, was born into a family of traditional West African musicians or griots. In a 2017 interview with Le Monde, she confirmed, “I am the only one [in my family] who dares to sing professionally”. While her music typically lacks explicit political connotations, she indicated in a 2019 interview with the New York Times, that she’s contented if her songs are self-explanatory. She also revealed her cognizance of her feminist status and often lauds unstoppable women who are confidently managing their lives and expressing their sexuality fearlessly through her lyrics.
Nakamura’s initial career doubts about being a role model were revealed in an interview with CB News, a PR and marketing publication, in December. “The reality is, I have influence,” she admitted, going on to express pride in her ability to empower some women through her endeavours.
A controversy surrounding her prospective performance, however, mirrors a divided France. Several perceive an exclusionist nation, neglecting the diversity enriched by large-scale immigration, especially from North Africa, and dismissive of the host of the 33rd Summer Olympics. Left-leaning politicians, celebrities, and government figures are endorsing Nakamura’s significant presence in the ceremony.
Conversely, there are those who view a France trying to mask its Christian heritage, and even its own identity. These viewpoints are fuelled by the removal of the cross from the Invalides dome and not a single French flag on the official poster. Subdued tones like pink, green, and purple replace the vivid blue, white, and red symbolic of France.
Marion Maréchal, Le Pen’s niece and leader of the extreme-right Reconquête party criticised France’s lack of self-assertion when in the global spotlight in a recent TV interview.
In France, the nation of the Académie Française, language becomes contentious. Founded in 1634, the Academy has passionately and persistently defended the French language from what a member has subtly criticised as “brainless Globish”. However, their success is waning as France becomes more globalised with growing influence from “les startuppers”.
Julien Barret, a linguist and writer, pointed out France’s conflation of its identity and language, referring to “a sort of religion of language”, and a “cult of purity” in France. However, this so-called purity has shifted. France’s previous African colonies increasingly add their distinct expressions to the language. Singers and rappers, often from immigrant backgrounds, reinvent lingual norms. Barret iterated, “You can’t write a song like you write a school assignment.
Nakamura, renowned for her hit dance tracks, creatively employs a diverse blend of linguistic elements, including French slang such as verlan, West African dialect like Nouchi from the Ivory Coast, and original phrases which, despite seeming absurd, rapidly capture public attention. One of her most popular songs, Djadja, gained acclaim in 2018 as a rallying cry for women’s empowerment, as it condemns a man who fabricates about being intimate with her, encapsulating her defiance in the line “I’m not your catin”, referencing an archaic French word for a sex worker. This anthem has garnered approximately one billion streams on various platforms.
Pookie, another widely recognised track of hers, derives its name from poucave, a Romani term that’s colloquially employed to label a betrayer or snitch. In her interaction with President Macron, as first reported by L’Express, Nakamura named Édith Piaf, the iconic singer who passed away in 1963, as her favourite French artist. Hence, Macron indicated that she might consider performing Piaf’s music to inaugurate the Olympics, a proposal that’s presently being deliberated.
To some, Nakamura performing Piaf could be an impeccable homage to La Vie en Rose, Piaf’s timeless Parisian love song. Bruno Le Maire, the Minister of the Economy and amateur erotic novelist, opined that such a performance would exhibit “dash” and “courage”. Supporters highlighted the similarity of both artists’ humble, immigrant origins. Despite the public’s familiarity with Nakamura, a recent survey reported that 63% of the French population did not support Macron’s proposal.
Nakamura has previously faced criticism in France, a nation with high assimilation expectations. Some conservatives argue that, despite adopting French nationality, she presents a greater affinity for her African lineage and American influences. However, Nakamura defended her music on French TV in 2019, asserting, “At the end of the day, it reaches everyone.” “Even if you don’t grasp it,” she continued, “you still sing along.”
The uproar surrounding the Olympics doesn’t seem to be dying down anytime soon. As one analyst on France Inter radio adeptly stated, “While lacking in oil, France is rich in disputes. Indeed, we could nearly earn ourselves a gold medal for it.” – This piece was initially published in The New York Times.
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