Controversy, Consensus, and Contradictions

Humour in Contemporary France Controversy, Consensus, and Contradictions Studies in Modern and Contemporary France 3 Studies in Modern and Contemporary France Series Editors Professor Gill Allwood, Nottingham Trent University Professor Denis M. Provencher, University of Arizona Professor Martin O’Shaughnessy, Nottingham Trent University The Studies in Modern and Contemporary France book series is a new collaboration between the Association for the Study of Modern and Contemporary France (ASMCF) and Liverpool University Press (LUP). Submissions are encouraged focusing on French politics, history, society, media and culture. The series will serve as an important focus for all those whose engagement with France is not restricted to the more classically literary, and can be seen as a long-form companion to the Association’s journal, Modern and Contemporary France, and to Contemporary French Civilization, published by Liverpool University Press. Humour in Contemporary France Controversy, Consensus, and Contradictions JONATH A N ERVIN E Humour in Contemporary France Liverpool University Press First published 2019 by Liverpool University Press 4 Cambridge Street Liverpool L69 7ZU Copyright © 2019 Jonathan Ervine The right of Jonathan Ervine to be identified as the author of this book has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher. British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication data A British Library CIP record is available ISBN 978-1-78962-051-1 cased eISBN 978-1-78962-464-9 Typeset by Carnegie Book Production, Lancaster Contents Contents Acknowledgements vii Introduction. Humour: a serious issue in contemporary France 1 1. Charlie Hebdo: from controversy to consensus? 19 2. Dieudonné: from anti-racist activism to allegations of anti-Semitism 57 3. Jamel Comedy Club: stand-up comedy à la française? 95 4. Islam and humour: more than just a debate about cartoons 129 Conclusions 163 Bibiliography 183 Index 193 Acknowledgements Acknowledgements Since the French classes of Mr Grove and Mr Jessop during my school days at Madras College in St Andrews, humour is something that I have associated with learning French and studying French society. They deserve great thanks for the considerable wit and inspiration that ultimately led to me studying French at university and writing this book. During my time as a student at the University of Leeds, studying a final year module entitled ‘Comedy from neo-romanticism to the absurd’ was one of the first times when I started to think in more detail about the power and meaning of humour in a French context, and that owes much to the frequently entertaining classes of Jim Dolamore. As a student and subsequently as a lecturer, I am very grateful to have met many people with whom I have had the opportunity to converse about humour in France. On several occasions, conferences organized by the Association for the Study of Modern and Contemporary France (ASMCF) and the French Media Research Group (FMRG) have provided a fantastically welcoming and supportive environment in which to discuss such matters. I would like to thank Patrice Bouche for helping me to obtain several issues of Charlie Hebdo that I discuss in this book, and extend my gratitude to Olivier Mazuy for first introducing me to the Jamel Comedy Club. Soon after starting as a lecturer in French at Bangor University, I took advantage of an opportunity to interview the American comedy trio Allah Made Me Funny while working on a book chapter about Islam, music, and new media for a volume edited by Kamal Salhi. The discussion I had with Azhar Usman, Preacher Moss and Mohammed Amer was extremely thought provoking, and I am grateful to them for agreeing to meet me and saying much that inspired me to pursue viii Humour in Contemporary France my exploration of humour further. It has been a real privilege to have been able to interview several French comedians and actors while conducting the research that has resulted in the publication of this book, and I would like to thank Hassan Zahi, Zangro, Dédo, and Noom Diawara for agreeing to meet me. I am profoundly grateful to Liverpool University Press for the opportunity to write this book and their support whilst working on the manuscript. Particular thanks are due to Anthony Cond and Chloé Johnson, as well as two anonymous reviewers who provided very constructive and helpful feedback on the initial draft, and also the copy editor for their meticulous work. I should add that all translations unless stated are my own, and I take full responsibility for them. It is while working at Bangor University that I have done the work that has led to this book being published, and I am extremely thankful to numerous colleagues in Modern Languages whose presence and collegiality has been such a positive feature of my working life. I should also thank the many students who have endured my attempts to work jokes into French classes in a manner that probably illustrates why I became a lecturer rather than a comedian. Finally, I would like to thank my family for all their support and encouragement, as well as bringing much humour to my life on a regular basis. My parents tell me that one of my childhood ambitions was to write a joke book, so this publication has clearly stemmed from an enduring interest in humour. My wife Viv once said that she married me despite my sense of humour rather than because of it, and my friends would doubtlessly say that she deserves much credit for listening to me tell many jokes of variable quality. It thus seems fitting to dedicate this book to Viv as well as our sons Tomos and Harri, who were both born while I was researching humour in France. All three bring much laughter and joy to my life on a daily basis, and this is something for which I am tremendously thankful. Introduction Humour: a serious issue in contemporary France Introduction: Humour: a serious issue in contemporary France The fatal attack on the offices of Charlie Hebdo in January 2015 provoked considerable debate in France about humour and freedom of expression, as well as topics such as humour and offensiveness, and the limits of humour. However, surprisingly little had previously been written about humour and national identity in a specifically French context. Within Anglophone studies of humour around the world, such as Christie Davies’s iconic work The Mirth of Nations, references to humour in France generally concern ways in which the French have a tendency to tell jokes that mock the supposed stupidity of their Belgian and Swiss neighbours or the stinginess of inhabitants of the Auvergne region.1 However, such jokes are often relatively banal as they generally involve the mocking of neighbouring countries with whom France has not had a particularly antagonistic history. In the case of the Auvergnats’s perceived meanness, a stereotypical behavioural trait is being mocked but not the extent to which the regions’ inhabitants are truly French. When we examine humour within the context of the ethnic, racial, or religious diversity of French society, it can potentially be much less innocent if it involves stereotypes that reinforce hegemonic power relations. Although it can provide a means of challenging, or re-appropriating stereotypes, negotiating a way through issues surrounding immigration, diversity, and the legacies of colonialism can 1 Christie Davies, The Mirth of Nations (New Brunswick and London: Transaction Publishers, 2011), p. 9. 2 Humour in Contemporary France be a fraught process. Discussions of humour in France, as with so many other aspects of French society, are influenced by France’s political culture, and the vocabulary utilized in such debates is often dictated by France’s republican ideology. Within this context, for example, the concept of multiculturalism is seen as un-French due to being incompatible with Republican ideals of universality and the single and indivisible nation.2 However, recent decades have seen a questioning of the extent to which France really is a single and indivisible nation that is as egalitarian as it aspires to be. This has coincided with attempts by French governments to increasingly define national identity, and censure those who mock figures such as the President.3 Furthermore, these developments have occurred against the backdrop of increasingly intense debates about immigration and integration in a post 9/11 context.4 In addition to being a period where France has sought to manage community relations in a tense context, this time has also been one marked by discussion of socio-political humour in France, and in particular what is and is not considered taboo. Despite politicians’ attempts to impose a fixed notion of national identity, it has been argued that the performance of many contemporary French comedians has created ‘des rires qui reconfigurent le terrain de la francité’ [‘forms of laughter that reconfigure the domain of Frenchness’].5 In other words, humour has taken on increased significance within the context of exploring national identity in France. Some comedians have sought to argue that the act of laughing itself constitutes a symbol of tolerance and integration. Michel Boujenah has argued – somewhat simplistically – that ‘si on peut rire ensemble, on peut vivre ensemble’ [‘if we can laugh together, we can live together’].6 However, it is important to acknowledge that humour has the potential to divide as well as unite. As Jimmy Carr and Lucy Greeves argue, ‘a 2 Jeremy Jennings, ‘Citizenship, Republicanism and Multiculturalism in Contemporary France’, British Journal of Political Science, 30.4 (2000), p.

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