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What do Russians think about France?

by Brit Muscovite

We find it very important to know what do other people think about us. Do you agree? With this purpose I'd like to start today a new theme in this blog - attitude of russian people to different countries and nations. Before you go to Moscow, let you inform about.

Article by Bavin P. www.fom.ru

FRANCE

Russians show a familiarity with France. The majority of the general poll participants demonstrated sympathy as well as a comprehensive knowledge of this country's culture, both past and present.

That Paris is the capital city of France is known by 80% of Russian respondents, which is the highest awareness level since the beginning of our surveys on world nations (for comparison: only 53% were able to answer correctly when asked to name the capital city of Sweden). This is no wonder, since many Russians associate France primarily with Paris:
• "The marvelous city of Paris!"
• "Paris, the world's capital.»
Such enthusiastic delight was frequently extended to comprise the whole of France:
• "Everything is just fine in France!"
• "A marvelous, fairytale country.»
• "A superb country, it makes you feel like smiling.»
Most Russians' associations with France have to do with culture, the arts and entertainment, whereas the images of the two neighboring countries, Spain and Germany, let alone the USA, show predominantly historical, political and economic connotations (Cf. "Dominants. The Field of Opinions." № 012 (598). Section "Geoproject: Germany"; "Dominants. The Field of Opinions." № 017 (603). Section "Geoproject: Spain."). Cultural values were mentioned by 24% of respondents speaking about France. Significantly, some poll participants show the above-mentioned enthusiasm, while others show precise knowledge of persons and monuments of art:
• "Europe's leading nation in culture and art.»
• "The world's cultural hearth, which people gravitate to.»
• "Cinema, the Lumi&232re brothers.»
• "The Impressionists.»
• "Notre Dame de Paris.»
• "Mireille Mathieu, Edith Piaf, Belmondo.»
Add to this the 24% of Russians (8%) for whom France is above all the home of `haute couture', and the 10% who speak with delight about Paris, and it becomes obvious that for nearly half of all respondents, France represents something elevated and beautiful. Goods associated with France are indicative of this tendency, too: whereas in polls concerning other highly-developed nations these are mostly cars, household appliances and chewing-gum, i.e. goods the Russian people deal with in their daily life, when it comes to French goods, the respondents mention things that most of them are unlikely even to have seen: «Veuve Clicquot» champagne, Chanel №5 perfume, French cheese and wine. Even ordinary shoes placed in this setting are not so much a consumer good as a symbol of the Soviet woman's dream come true:
• "Posh women's boots.»
Although historical and political associations are made less frequently, here again the respondents show a deep knowledge of the milestones and figures of French history:
• "The «Normandie-N&233man» regiment pilots.»
• "July 14, Bastille day.»
• "Marat, Jaur&232s.»
• "The French Resistance during the war.»
No matter what western country is discussed, a considerable number of Russians never fail to recall that its population is well-off and enjoys an untroubled, well-heeled life:
• "A peaceful, lace-curtain life.»
• "They are better provided for, they enjoy their old age, unlike us.»
The percentage of those stressing France's well-being (5%) is smaller than the percentage of those who point to positive features in the French character (6%). Respondents speak of the French "enjoying life» and being «cheerful,» of the women being full of "charm and enchantment,» and of the men being "elegant.»

There are also respondents for whom France has negative associations. We will turn to them a little later.

Two presidents of France top the public's list of well-known Frenchmen: General de Gaulle and Jacques Chirac. At first sight this seems to contradict the stated tendency of Russians to identify France with the world of culture and art. However, on closer examination, it proves that politicians only lead due to a greater «scattering» in the movies-and-entertainment segment of the list. Actors, singers and variety artists rank immediately after the presidents, as well as Alexandre Dumas as the only representative of French literature, and Napoleon, whose image is dominated by mythical rather than historic features. Interestingly, even in the rating of French actors, Russians show their preference for light comedy to drama: Pierre Richard and Louis de Funes are more popular than Alain Delon and Jean Marais. The respondents' gender preferences differ from genre to genre: among variety artists, women such as Mireille Mathieu, Patricia Kaas and Edith Piaf are mentioned more often than men, while the list of movie actors consists of males alone. It is startling that, for all their enthusiasm about the prettiness of French women at large, respondents never mention such French actresses as Brigitte Bardo and Catherine Deneuve. What seems a paradox might be explained by the hypothesis whereby men tend to name politicians, not people from show business, as the «most famous.»

This list is also indicative of mass culture ousting literature from the Russian consciousness. Alexandre Dumas is the only writer mentioned among the top ten prominent Frenchmen, and the suggestion seems plausible that he owes this to the massive success of the screen adaptations of his novels. When it comes to countries whose mass culture bears no marked national features, Russians remember writers in first place. In the list of famous Germans, for example, Goethe ranks third after Kohl and Hitler.

In the poll, we also wanted to learn what Russians feel towards the current president of France, Jacques Chirac. One-third of respondents (33%) said they feel sympathy for Chirac as a politician; the percentage of those unsympathetic towards him is four times smaller (8%). Negative connotations associated with Chirac are largely the same as those associated with France in general: the first type comprises opinions of Russians affected with general xenophobia. They seem to have a stock of wholesale labels that can be attached to any well-known western politician:
• "A tough politician, a russophobe, a Russian-hater.»
• "I don't like him: he is a friend of the Americans, he pipes to their tune.»
Among these ill-affected respondents, many show a good knowledge of France. The awareness of the Armenian Diaspora's prominence in France enables one respondent to back his antipathy for Chirac by saying:
• "Yerevan and Armenia altogether: he has something Armenian about him.»
Another type of respondent feels negative about Chirac in association with recent scandals that were excessively boosted by the media. To do justice to the French president, he himself has nothing to do with these incidents:
• "The case of the girl they don't want to give back to her mother. She applied for help to Putin and to Jacques Chirac.»
• "Under him, they seized the sailing-ship and wanted to seize the jet fighters.»
As for Chirac's stance on the bombing of Yugoslavia, there are positive as well as negative attitudes expressed by Russian respondents.
• "The bombardment of Yugoslavia" (among negative ratings).
• "The behavior during the bombardments of Yugoslavia, his balanced stance" (among positive ratings).
Still, it is the association with the office that on the whole prevails in all types of respondents: "the president of France.» For those feeling good about Chirac, general positive descriptions rank second:
• "He's alright.»
• "A good politician.»
• "A good man.»
Some people seem to like Chirac not because of his personal virtues, but because he belongs to a country they like. This suggestion is confirmed by the following fact: 33% of respondents stated that they feel positive towards the president of France, but only one-fourth of them could think of anything particular (good or bad) associated with his name. The «unspecific delight» about France in general has probably marked the appreciation of the country's president as well.

In order to better understand the Russian image of Jacques Chirac, one has to bear in mind the role Paris plays in their positive image of France. Many respondents who show sympathy for the president remember him as the mayor of the French capital:
• "He used to be the mayor of Paris, under him relations between Russia and France changed, I don't remember in which way.»
• "The mayor of Paris; he did a lot for the country.»
Some respondents ascribe Chirac the virtues of various other post-war presidents of France:
• General de Gaulle:
• "They liberated Algeria, he was a communist, he stopped the student riots.»
• "An attempt to establish serious contacts with the Soviet Union, with Russia; contradictory relations with NATO.»
• "A serious reform modifying the political regime in France.»
• Giscard d'Estaing:
• "He travels by train.»
• "He is democratic, he respects domestic producers and drives a Citro&235n.»
• and all the presidents together:
• "He was the mayor of Paris, he continues the previous presidents' policy.»
The fact that in international politics, the stances of France and Russia harmonize is highly appreciated by respondents:
• "He and Putin reconciled and pursued a joint policy.»
• "He supports Russia's stance on the ABM treaty.»
Summing up, it can be observed that the current positive image of France found in Russians is an amalgam of a positive towards this country (which was characteristic of Russian culture in the nineteenth century, and is familiar to most Russians thanks to the classical literature studied at school), and the image propagated by Soviet schools and mass culture in the `60s and `70s. In that period, France was chosen by the Soviet authorities to play the role of a counterbalance to America's influence in the western world, which was largely in line with the policy pursued by France itself. The fact that movie stars of the past (Louis de Fun&232s, Jean Marais) successfully compete with those of the present (Pierre Richard, G&233rard Depardieu) is as indicative of this as the overall high awareness of Russian respondents about the monuments of French culture. Culture is the principal field of association, and this makes the positive image of France steady and immunizes it to the influence of the transitory scandals that account for the negative associations. The ideas acquired at school are stronger than information received later on through television, unless it concerns one personally.