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| To French, Nobel Prizes Show That Talk of Country’s Decline Is Premature | To French, Nobel Prizes Show That Talk of Country’s Decline Is Premature |
| (about 5 hours later) | |
| PARIS — When France won its second Nobel Prize in less than a week on Monday, this time for economics, Prime Minister Manuel Valls quickly took to Twitter, insisting with no shortage of pride that the accomplishment was a loud rebuke for those who say that France is a nation in decline. | |
| “After Patrick Modiano, another Frenchman in the firmament: Congratulations to Jean Tirole!” Mr. Valls wrote. “What a way to thumb one’s nose at French bashing! #ProudofFrance.” | “After Patrick Modiano, another Frenchman in the firmament: Congratulations to Jean Tirole!” Mr. Valls wrote. “What a way to thumb one’s nose at French bashing! #ProudofFrance.” |
| Some in the country were already giddy after Mr. Modiano, a beloved author, whose concise and moody novels are often set in France during the Nazi occupation, won the Nobel Prize for literature last week. The award helped to raise the global stature of Mr. Modiano, whose three books published in the United States — two novels and a children’s book — before the Nobel had collectively sold fewer than 8,000 copies. | Some in the country were already giddy after Mr. Modiano, a beloved author, whose concise and moody novels are often set in France during the Nazi occupation, won the Nobel Prize for literature last week. The award helped to raise the global stature of Mr. Modiano, whose three books published in the United States — two novels and a children’s book — before the Nobel had collectively sold fewer than 8,000 copies. |
| Joining in the chorus, Le Monde suggested in an editorial that at a time of rampant French-bashing, Mr. Modiano’s achievement was something of a vindication for a country where Nobel Prizes in literature flow more liberally than oil. Mr. Modiano was the 15th French writer, including Sartre and Camus, to win the award. | Joining in the chorus, Le Monde suggested in an editorial that at a time of rampant French-bashing, Mr. Modiano’s achievement was something of a vindication for a country where Nobel Prizes in literature flow more liberally than oil. Mr. Modiano was the 15th French writer, including Sartre and Camus, to win the award. |
| Yet this being France, a country where dissatisfaction can be worn like an accessory, some intellectuals, economists and critics greeted the awards with little more than a shrug at a time when the economy has been faltering, Paris has lost influence to Berlin and Brussels, the far-right National Front has been surging, and François Hollande has become one of the most unpopular French presidents in recent history. Others sniffed haughtily that while France was great at culture, it remained economically and politically prostrate. | Yet this being France, a country where dissatisfaction can be worn like an accessory, some intellectuals, economists and critics greeted the awards with little more than a shrug at a time when the economy has been faltering, Paris has lost influence to Berlin and Brussels, the far-right National Front has been surging, and François Hollande has become one of the most unpopular French presidents in recent history. Others sniffed haughtily that while France was great at culture, it remained economically and politically prostrate. |
| Even Mr. Modiano may have unintentionally captured the national mood when, informed of his prize by his editor, he said he found it “strange” and wanted to know why the Nobel committee had selected him. | Even Mr. Modiano may have unintentionally captured the national mood when, informed of his prize by his editor, he said he found it “strange” and wanted to know why the Nobel committee had selected him. |
| Alain Finkielkraut, a professor of philosophy at the elite École Polytechnique, who recently published a book criticizing what he characterized as France’s descent into conformity and multiculturalism, said that rather than showing that France was on the ascent, the fetishizing of the Nobel Prizes by the French political elite revealed the country’s desperation. | Alain Finkielkraut, a professor of philosophy at the elite École Polytechnique, who recently published a book criticizing what he characterized as France’s descent into conformity and multiculturalism, said that rather than showing that France was on the ascent, the fetishizing of the Nobel Prizes by the French political elite revealed the country’s desperation. |
| “I find the idea that the Nobels are being used as a riposte to French-bashing idiotic,” he said. “Our education system is totally broken, and the Nobel Prize doesn’t change anything. I have a lot of affection for Mr. Modiano, but I think Philip Roth deserved it much more. To talk that all in France is going well and that the pessimism is gone is absurd. France is doing extremely badly. There is an economic crisis. There is a crisis of integration. I am not going to be consoled by these medals made of chocolate.” | “I find the idea that the Nobels are being used as a riposte to French-bashing idiotic,” he said. “Our education system is totally broken, and the Nobel Prize doesn’t change anything. I have a lot of affection for Mr. Modiano, but I think Philip Roth deserved it much more. To talk that all in France is going well and that the pessimism is gone is absurd. France is doing extremely badly. There is an economic crisis. There is a crisis of integration. I am not going to be consoled by these medals made of chocolate.” |
| Robert Frank, a history professor emeritus at the University of Paris 1 — Sorbonne, and the author of “The Fear of Decline, France From 1914 to 2014,” echoed that the self-aggrandizement that had greeted the prizes among the French establishment reflected a country lacking in self-confidence. In earlier centuries, he noted, the prize had been greeted as something obvious. | Robert Frank, a history professor emeritus at the University of Paris 1 — Sorbonne, and the author of “The Fear of Decline, France From 1914 to 2014,” echoed that the self-aggrandizement that had greeted the prizes among the French establishment reflected a country lacking in self-confidence. In earlier centuries, he noted, the prize had been greeted as something obvious. |
| When French writers or intellectuals won Nobels in the mid-20th century, “there was no jolt at that time, because France still saw itself as important, so there wasn’t much to add to that,” he said. “Today, it may help some people to show that France still counts in certain places in the world. This doesn’t fix the crisis of unemployment, however, that is sapping this society.” | When French writers or intellectuals won Nobels in the mid-20th century, “there was no jolt at that time, because France still saw itself as important, so there wasn’t much to add to that,” he said. “Today, it may help some people to show that France still counts in certain places in the world. This doesn’t fix the crisis of unemployment, however, that is sapping this society.” |
| In academic economic circles, Mr. Tirole’s winning the 2014 Nobel in economic science for his work on the best way to regulate large, powerful firms, was greeted as a fitting tribute to a man whose work had exerted profound influence. It added to an already prominent year for French economists, as seen from Thomas Piketty’s book, “Capital in the Twenty-First Century,” which became an immediate best-seller when translated into English six months ago. | In academic economic circles, Mr. Tirole’s winning the 2014 Nobel in economic science for his work on the best way to regulate large, powerful firms, was greeted as a fitting tribute to a man whose work had exerted profound influence. It added to an already prominent year for French economists, as seen from Thomas Piketty’s book, “Capital in the Twenty-First Century,” which became an immediate best-seller when translated into English six months ago. |
| Mr. Tirole’s work gained particular attention after the 2008 financial crisis, which revealed problems in the regulation of financial firms in the United States and Europe. | Mr. Tirole’s work gained particular attention after the 2008 financial crisis, which revealed problems in the regulation of financial firms in the United States and Europe. |
| But some noted the paradox of the award going to an economist from a nation where the economy was less than shimmering, and where many businesses and critics bemoan a culture of excessive red tape. | But some noted the paradox of the award going to an economist from a nation where the economy was less than shimmering, and where many businesses and critics bemoan a culture of excessive red tape. |
| Others like Sean Safford, an associate professor of economic sociology at Institut d'Études Politiques de Paris, the elite institute for political studies known as Sciences Po, said the awarding of the prize to Mr. Tirole, a professor of economics at the University of Toulouse in France, was notable for coming at a time of economic malaise and brain drain, when so many of the country’s brightest are emigrating elsewhere in Europe or to the United States. “The average French person, who is struggling to pay the bills, is not going to rejoice,” he said. | |
| At a time when France is trying to overhaul its social model amid withering resistance to change, others said the award had laid bare the country’s abiding stratification between a small, hyper-educated elite and the rest of the country. | At a time when France is trying to overhaul its social model amid withering resistance to change, others said the award had laid bare the country’s abiding stratification between a small, hyper-educated elite and the rest of the country. |
| Peter Gumbel, a British journalist living in France who most recently wrote a book on French elitism, said that while the prize would provide some sense of national validation, the two men did not reflect the country as a whole. | Peter Gumbel, a British journalist living in France who most recently wrote a book on French elitism, said that while the prize would provide some sense of national validation, the two men did not reflect the country as a whole. |
| “Undoubtedly the French ecosystem produces incredibly smart people at the very top end, who are capable of winning prizes, and who fall into a grand tradition, and that is what the French school system is geared to produce,” he said. | “Undoubtedly the French ecosystem produces incredibly smart people at the very top end, who are capable of winning prizes, and who fall into a grand tradition, and that is what the French school system is geared to produce,” he said. |
| As for the prizes countering French-bashing, he added, “The French are the biggest bashers of France themselves.” | As for the prizes countering French-bashing, he added, “The French are the biggest bashers of France themselves.” |