European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - September 11, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse Most French do not open up quickly to str Angera whether foreigners or French but one they of they an As kind and Loyal is any other people. Hen a group of frenchmen Enoy � of a of Boule a favorite National pastime. 1hefrench Are they a Puzzle wrapped in an Enigma by Stanley Meisler los Angeles times after five years in France an american Silil has a puzzling time figuring Oul the French. Afe hey really rude do they Lack creativity does 1heir school system stills Many of them do they posture foolishly on the world stage there Are Short answers 10 each of these questions no maybe yes no. Bui there Are Long. Complex and contradictory answers As Well for myriad ambiguities befuddle any american trying to make Oul the French. To Many foreigners for example in is not surprising that the Patron Saint of Paris is St. Genevieve a nun who fasted and prayed in the sixth Century to keep Paris Safe from foreigners. She fits an image Hal Franco cannot shake off All studies show that outsiders look on the French As the coldest and least welcoming people of Europe. Yet there Are Lew countries in the world that have welcomed and embraced so Many foreigners from the italian Renaissance Genius Leonardo a Vinci of the Spanish Painter Pablo Picasso to the Irish writer James Joyce to the Black american Singer Josephine Baker. Some of the most celebrated French of the 20th Century such As Nobel prize physicist Marie Curie actor Sager Yves Montand and novelist remain Gary. Were born outside France. Contradictions like these seem even More puzzling because the French at hear ought not to be so puzzling to an american. The French Are not really exotic like australian bushmen or the Maya or even the japanese. French culture seems familiar. French Champagne and perfume and cheese and ballads and movies conjure up old and warm images. Yet although americans sometimes feel they have France in their reach they rarely can grasp it. No other people so close seem to far. A mood a spirit set the French apart and moods and spirits Are Dill cull to fathom. Take the French concern Lor language and ideas. The French respect Lor intellect is breathtaking far beyond the experience of any american politicians and civil servants speak and write with unequalled style sophistication Lair for literature and grounding in history. Dally newspapers devote far More space to philosophy and sociology than sports. The French first came up with the term intellectual at the turn of the Century to describe writers artists and philosophers with influence. Intellectuals still have influence and still matter. Throughout this year for example a controversy has raged Over the late German philosopher Martin Heidegger a controversy set off by a chilean professor who wrote a Book accusing Heidegger of unswerving loyally to Hitler s nazi party from 1933 to 1945. Heidegger is regarded is Ono of the most influential philosophers of the 20lh Century but it is hard to conceive of the same fuss taking place anywhere else. The Book though written by Victor Farias while teaching in Germany was published in France Lisl in translation from Spanish and German us publication provoked an Avalanche of articles in French newspapers and magazines. Intellectual journals devoted entire issues to the subject. Pro Heidegger professors fought with Anli Heidegger professors in acrimonious television debates. The Book spawned a series of other books in French attacking and defending him. Heidegger has a special place in France because his views influenced those of the great French writer Jean Paul Sartre. Bui that does nol really explain Why the French Media have devoted so much attention to him Heidegger after ail is unintelligible to the average Reader in any language even French. But the average French Reader whether he reads Heidegger or not knows Hal philosophers Are important and therefore Worth fussing about. Intellectual achievement is so prize that the smartest secondary students Are treated like celebrities. Be Monde France s Moat influential newspaper published the full text in july of the student essay that won the annual prize of the ministry of education for the Best composition in French. These annual prizes which began in 1747. Are major events. The news weekly Point in a cover Story a few weeks ago profiled nine of this year s winners in various subjects revealing their family backgrounds study habits heroes and favorite dishes. The Besl graduates of the French educational system have a precision of mind command of language and store of memory that would make the heart of most american educators ache with envy. Ii is doubtful that any school system in the world leaches More logic and grammar or olfers More courses. But a sobering Price is paid. Precision in thought and Beauty of language Are the products of an elite French school system that is repressive Irig Lening and stifling to Many pupils who cannot keep up. There is no tolerance or time Lor spontaneity or weakness. An elite few do Well and uphold the glory and grandeur of French culture. But Many other students Ere shunted aside by the system. Almost two thirds of French pupils who enter secondary school fail to win the baccalaureate degree Hal is Tia crowning achievement of their secondary education. Some eel that allure for the rest of their lives or. Philippe Guran director of paediatrics at the Richaud Hospital in Versailles once described the school system As hazardous to children s health and the children he said Are motivated by the Lear of failure rather than the Pursuit of school principals and teachers Are rigid and make no allowances for pupils who develop later than their classmates. How Many children economist Michel Godet said in a recent attack on French education find themselves pushed to the sidelines because they have a rhythm of development different to that o the average on lop of this the whole educational atmosphere of France prizes theory Over practice. The music conservatories of Paris Tor example wring the enthusiasm Oul of 8-year-old children by forcing them to study the theory of Harmony for a year before putting their hands on an instrument. A school Day. In any Case. Is so packed with courses and Homework that there is Little Lime Lor music or Tennis or photography or theater or anything else that Many French look on As trills although some French educators question Iha rigidity and elitism of Iho school system most politicians and parents do not. These kind of schools Page 14 the stars and stripes
