French identity/ national identity in general

[Alicja]

Hello,

On Monday we'll talk about French national identity and the notion of (national) identity in general. I'd like you to read an article about this topic, post a discussion questions, review the article and find definitions of the words/ expressions from the text you didn't understand.

I apologize for posting so late. Since I'm posting only now, the work is not obligatory (it would be good for you to do it, though: reading won't kill you).

See yoy on Monday!

[Camille]

Hello everyone,

I watched this video about the French national identity: news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8343702.stm
This video is an old report from November 2009 about a debate that the French government was trying to tackle. Indeed, the French government was trying to answer the question ‘what exactly does that mean to be French today?’ The major difficulty is to give a single answer on what is the French identity even in the increasingly globalized world. The government wants people living in France to be more patriotic. The majority of French people think that the soul-searching exercise will give them a better sense of how France can have its own identity.

This video was interesting because it is always good to have an external opinion but you always need to be careful with it. Foreign people do not have the same grasp on national problem as French people do.

What does it mean to be French for you?’

Vocabulary:
Consciousness: the ideas and opinions of a person or group
National anthem: the official song of a nation that is sung on special occasions
Soul-searching: the careful examination of your thoughts and feelings, for example in order to reach the correct decision or solution to something

[Adrien]

Hello,

I have read this article about the french identity for monday : www.newrepublic.com/article/120714/charlie-hebdo-attack-challenges-frances-treasured-national-identity

This article explain that the people who live in the suburbs of Paris are mainly Muslim families and the government doesn’t think they are French even if they are born in France and speak a perfect French. With the terrorist attack on Charlie Hebdo at the beginning of the year, the nation of French identity is even more complicate to define because it was done by men from these suburbs.
The French identity is always evolving with what happen in the country (and abroad) and is changing with these attacks

Vocabulary :
    to blight something : to damage something
    to grasp : to understand perfectly
    ludicrous : ridiculous

Do you think that we can define a European identity or each identity (French, German, Polish, ... ) are too important ?

[Pierre L.]

Aaaargh it didn't save my work !
I'll do that quickly

Article about Chinese national identity
carnegietsinghua.org/publications/?fa=53613

Nine major value in China : Harmony, Benevolence, Righteousness, Courtesy, Wisdom, Honesty, Loyalty, Filial Piety.
All these values are based on traditional Chinese philosopher, but seem to be a justification to the Chinese dictatorial government (especially harmony and and loyalty).

Righteousness : behaviour that is morally right or good, especially according to a religion
Benevolence : the quality of being kind, helpful and generous
Loyalty : a strong feeling that you want to be loyal to somebody/something

Questio : How can national values and references be used in the propaganda ?

[clement]

www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fWqSwZsWRE
This video is a report dealing with Algerian in France. This report takes place in Marseille, the most ethnically diverse city in France.. And we can hear Algerians talking about their place in France. Some are oppressed by racism .one tell us that Marseille is like a department of Algeria.
We can also hear “French” talking about immigrants and most didn’t notice that they are not French.
Then the reporters ask people what is France national identity.
they often answer diversity.
According to the vice president of the Marseille’s mosque the problem is Social integration.
Now we can wonder if the if we can define the national identity according to one big city or to all cities of the town?

Voc:
stigmatized
Lockdown: blocked

[Marie-Agnès]

Hello everybody,

I chose an article about the quotas in French football : www.theguardian.com/world/2011/apr/29/french-football-race-row

This article deals with different quotas on youth training football. The French football federation want to have a French team more white and limit young black and Arab players. This article published after the World Cup 2010 (after the strike of French football player), the main question was if there was a lack of football team's « national identity ». A lot of person think that this « national identity » is not present because there a lot of black and Arab players.

I think that this quotas have not exist because the problem is not the persons. France is very multicultural it's the football's world the problem. Some players do not feel the « nationality identity » inside themselves.

So the question is : Can we think of athletes as representations of national identity ?

Unease :the feeling of being worried or unhappy about something
Bickering : the activity of arguing about things that are not important