Arnaud Benedetti is associate professor at Paris-Sorbonne University. He is editor-in-chief of the political and parliamentary review. He has notably published
Le coup de com 'permanent
(ed. Du Cerf, 2018) in which he details Emmanuel Macron's communication strategies.
___________________________________________________________
Politicians have several ways of existing: most highlight their electoral achievements or their achievements; others weigh by their word and their project; some, without political capital, nor very solid doctrinal corpus, exist only by their style.
Madame Schiappa certainly belongs to the latter category. Its omnipresence results first of all from its constant effort to generate buzz in an environment that remains fond of it. It is clear that she is as much an accomplished professional as a symptom. Madame Schiappa is the product of part of her time, she ticks many boxes, and consequently illustrates many of its characteristics both through her initiatives and through her words.
A few days ago, she advocated the creation of "
neighborhoods without relous
"; today she wants Cyril Hanouna, with whom she is one of the familiar faces of the plateau, to lead the debate between the two rounds of the next presidential elections. At least, are we sure for the circumstance, to be "
on the march
" towards the final stage of the desecration of the political office. It must be admitted that the Minister is not necessarily accountable for this process, even if through her positions she contributes to her level to increase it. It turns out to be, to its advantage, one of the products and symbols.
Marlène Schiappa is at the meeting point of a politics which no longer speaks, which has lost its ability to be audible, to retain curiosity as well as attention and of the entertainment society behind which some politicians keep running to fill a void, that of the mimicry of their ideas, and to find the thread of a narration with the citizens.
On the ground of the discredit of the political, it thus succeeded in developing its small communicating company which moreover allows it to erect the permanent fantasy like a factor of comparative differentiation compared to a large part of the macronist ministerial staff. Not without obvious qualities of hunter of opportunities, she advances with the audacity of those to whom we forgive a lot because
in fine
they conform to their brand background from which we do not expect anything other than what they are. From this point of view, Madame Schiappa, just like any brand, is one of those tautological figures that Roland Barthes taught us in his time that they were one of the most successful components of the myth. Schiappa does Schiappa, and this is the main point:it is compliant, "
connection
”with the role that it has created for itself as well as with that which the majority system assigns to it. It can afford these
apparent
"
deviations
", because its functionality consists of being in the gap with the codes of the "
compol
" according to the elders.
It is at the meeting point of a politics which no longer speaks, which has lost its capacity to be audible, to retain curiosity as well as attention and of the entertainment society behind which some politicians keep running to fill a gap. empty, that of the mimicry of their ideas, and to find the thread of a narration with the citizens. The interconnecting wedding between the minister and the host is therefore just as natural as it is of interest well understood in this degraded but now strongly consumerist machine that has become the public space. Should we be surprised when the show absorbs everything in a society which no longer self-criticizes in its evolution since it resolves to accept all its potentialities,including the most seemingly wacky? This would be to omit that zany and buffoonery constitute commodities and vectors even in the arcana of a field whose history has revealed to us that it was nevertheless one of the most serious, the most engaging, the most serious, namely the political ...
This dilution of the
res publica
is reminiscent of that comedy of the eighties,
"Two hours less a quarter before Jesus Christ"
, imagined by the visionary Jean Yanne, who parodying the peplum, described a society where s' political cynicism collided with the desire for power and popular bad humor soaked up in a playful and numbing frenzy. Everything happens as if populism were already in power, but certainly not in the form that its critics intend to denounce and fight: it has the face of the com ', confuses the people in majesty with a perverted representation of it, and under the mask of abused institutions, strives to conceal the impostures as much as the impotence of the moment.
For us too,
“Quarter to Two”
chimes on the irregular clock of the time. It remains to be seen what this forward designates and announces, which we suspect no longer quite corresponds not only to the spirit of the regime but also to that of the political priesthood. At the very least, is it useful for Marlène Schiappa to offer us one of the keys to our time. By inhabiting politics with such lightness, she speaks of its demonetization and the assignment to a reality that has become subordinate.
