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Victor Hugo attacked by French students | Victor Hugo attacked by French students |
(about 2 hours later) | |
Victor Hugo has been trending on Twitter in France as students lash out angrily after the Year 12 Baccalaureate exam - and are in turn condemned by others for their disrespectful attitude, notes Olivia Sorrel-Dejerine. | Victor Hugo has been trending on Twitter in France as students lash out angrily after the Year 12 Baccalaureate exam - and are in turn condemned by others for their disrespectful attitude, notes Olivia Sorrel-Dejerine. |
The author of Les Miserables and the Hunchback of Notre Dame was repeatedly called the son of a prostitute, and worse, last night. | The author of Les Miserables and the Hunchback of Notre Dame was repeatedly called the son of a prostitute, and worse, last night. |
Two other French authors Louis Aragon and Claude Roy also came under fire, but for some reason Hugo took the brunt of the attack, after the four-hour test "Poetic writing and search for meaning, from the Middle Ages to the present day". | Two other French authors Louis Aragon and Claude Roy also came under fire, but for some reason Hugo took the brunt of the attack, after the four-hour test "Poetic writing and search for meaning, from the Middle Ages to the present day". |
One of the options was to write a commentary of Le Crepuscule, a Hugo poem in which a blade of grass, representing life, holds a conversation with a grave, representing death. | One of the options was to write a commentary of Le Crepuscule, a Hugo poem in which a blade of grass, representing life, holds a conversation with a grave, representing death. |
Among the more publishable comments: | Among the more publishable comments: |
"Victor Hugo if I run into you on the street you're a dead man." | "Victor Hugo if I run into you on the street you're a dead man." |
"Now I hate Victor Hugo, Aragon and Roy. No in fact I hate poetry. No, no, in fact I hate the bac, period." | "Now I hate Victor Hugo, Aragon and Roy. No in fact I hate poetry. No, no, in fact I hate the bac, period." |
"Victor Hugo because of you I flunked my bac." | "Victor Hugo because of you I flunked my bac." |
Students had already turned to social media to complain about exams on philosophy, history and geography, but in smaller numbers. | |
The backlash from critics helped to get the subject trending: | |
"A respectful thought to Victor Hugo who, on this day of French bac, shines a light on the vulgarity and stupidity of our time," writes a councillor from a town in northern France. | "A respectful thought to Victor Hugo who, on this day of French bac, shines a light on the vulgarity and stupidity of our time," writes a councillor from a town in northern France. |
"Dear students, you'd be better off respecting Victor Hugo rather than these stupid reality-show participants." | "Dear students, you'd be better off respecting Victor Hugo rather than these stupid reality-show participants." |
"Who do you think you are to insult Victor Hugo? Just because you are illiterate doesn't mean you should pick on his writings." | "Who do you think you are to insult Victor Hugo? Just because you are illiterate doesn't mean you should pick on his writings." |
French journalist Laura Duhamel Babani published a screen shot of several tweets with the sarcastic comment: "High school students pay tribute to Victor Hugo after their French bac. Youth is so touching." | French journalist Laura Duhamel Babani published a screen shot of several tweets with the sarcastic comment: "High school students pay tribute to Victor Hugo after their French bac. Youth is so touching." |
Ironically, Hugo himself sharply criticised the bac and academia in general in a 1864 essay from his book William Shakespeare. | Ironically, Hugo himself sharply criticised the bac and academia in general in a 1864 essay from his book William Shakespeare. |
In his (grass-free) grave in Paris's Pantheon, the author may be laughing. | In his (grass-free) grave in Paris's Pantheon, the author may be laughing. |
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