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Wednesday, 14 November 2007 |
DNA – Disgusted Novice Appals
France’s ‘greenhorn’ Junior Minister
for Urban affairs, Fadela Amara, who
is of Algerian origin, unleashed strong
criticism from her colleagues in the
majority when she dared voice her
feelings on the government’s plans to
DNA-test immigrants. Echoing the
public outcry (tollé général) that greeted
these plans, in many respects she
ironically embodies (incarne) two of the
principles underpinning President
Sarkozy’s new style of governance,
namely rupture and ouverture. Rupture
(breaking with the past, with tradition),
parce qu’elle ose dire tout haut ce que
tout le monde pense tout bas (she voices
– in blunt language – what everyone is
secretly thinking), because her statement
flouts proprieties, is unseemly (contraire
aux convenances) in the eyes of her
colleagues; and ouverture (opening out,
broadening the base of government – to
the left in this instance), because of the
inevitable backlash/boomerang effect
(retour de bâton) the president’s policy
of ouverture was bound to have sooner or
later (tôt ou tard). Many think that his
policy has backfired on him (cette
politique s’est retournée contre lui).
Interviewed by France Inter, she said « Je
le dis aussi en tant que fille d’immigré :
y en a marre qu’on instrumentalise à
chaque fois l’immigration …. Je trouve
ça dégueulasse ! »
Apart from the predictable split along
party lines this controversy has caused –
71% of right-wing voters polled are in
favour of DNA-testing and 59% of leftwing
voters against – her bad,
inappropriate language
(excès de langage) is quite refreshing and
stimulating in linguistic terms, as was Le
Pen’s in his day, albeit in a quite different
and spine-chilling (qui donne la chair de
poule) register – his infamous “détail de
l’histoire” when referring to the
Holocaust, for instance.
It goes without saying, that as guests
in this country and possible ‘candidates’
for DNA-testing, should this reform ever
go through, we should not necessarily
follow Fadela’s example! As immigrants
ourselves, we should avoid being
outspoken (parler franchement, avoir
son franc parler) in most circumstances,
possibly with the exception of an
intimate dinner among friends (un dîner
en petit comité) and other similar
occasions.
Note: DNA is ADN in French
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