Historical revisionism, glorification of past aggression, textbooks extolling the “positive role” of the nation’s past colonialism. Japan? No. Try France:
France, grappling for decades with its colonial past, has passed a law to put an upbeat spin on a painful era, making it mandatory to enshrine in textbooks the country’s “positive role” in its far-flung colonies.
But the law is stirring anger among historians and passions in places like Algeria, which gained independence in a brutal conflict. Critics accuse France of trying to gild an inglorious colonial past with an “official history.”
At issue is language in the law stipulating that “school programs recognize in particular the positive character of the French overseas presence, notably in North Africa.”
Deputies of the conservative governing party passed the law in February, but it has only recently come under public scrutiny after being denounced at an annual meeting of historians and in a history professors’ petition.
(Hat tip to the guy who sent this to me a couple of days ago. Meant to blog it earlier)
10 Comments
Putting top spins, back spins, side spins on your past happens everywhere. I believe it is the level of the spin that matters. If France manages to show both the good points and the bad points in a fair manner (meaning bad points outnumber the good points :-)), I will not call it revisionism. But otherwise, its just a case of masturbation.
This shift towards a reappraisal of national histories is, as Juan says, nothing new. I think it’s a natural reaction if a country is force to say sorry for too long. Even young Germans, while by no means attempting to condone the actions of Hitler, are becoming increasingly assertive in declaring that Germans too were victims — notice, for instance, the growing movement in that country demanding an apology for the Allied bombings of Dresden.
The colonial record of the French is by no means as heinous as some (Belgium), but neither is it the least bad (perhaps Britain). What the French should be far more ashamed of is their current attachment to obscene farm subsidies that not only are directly responsible for grinding poverty in Africa, but threaten to derail the upcoming round of world trade talks.
It pays to be a colonial power.
I agree with some of what Juan says. As long as both positive and negative points are brought up, it will help serve historical accuracy. I wouldn’t say the bad has to outweigh the good, just have an objective view of things.
There is no problem with England admitting the positives Rome brought to them and they handle the issue in a balanced way. Of course it happened over 2000 years ago so it is easy for them to look back upon it fairly and objectively. The US can now look back at the revolutionary war with objectivity and to show the British perspective on things. Again this is a historical event that happened over 200 years ago. They say it takes time for objective history to come to light. Maybe remembering something so recent is just too painful for most societies. But the sooner objective history can come about the better it will be for that society and its relations.
“obscene farm subsidies that not only are directly responsible for grinding poverty in Africa…”
Add a whole bunch of developed countries to that list. Its not just the French. Developed countries the bastion for free economy? Only when it suits ‘em.
err… I meant free market
Actually I’m not against farm subsidies. What I’m against is the double standards the “developed” countries often impose on “less developed” countries.
France is right to relook their colonial past. There were some major, positive contributions, particularly in public health and economic development. Without the French School of the Far East (EFEO), Angor Wat and many other sites would have been destroyed (despite Andre Malraux’s pillaging of cambodian artifacts), and the ethnolinguistic history of Indochina would have been largely erased. Even the present Vietnamese government recognizes the positive aspects of France’s “Mission civilizatrise” by retaining street names such as Pasteur and Yersine.
and speaking of spin, this is a helluva way to do it chinese style…
http://www.harpers.org/BubbaTea.html
I don’t think the issue is France taking a second look at its past. The issue is government mandating how its past is to be taught. In particular, the government telling teachers and historians what moral spin they must add.