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You're barely scratching the surface here. The truth is that French regional accents (and patois) *were* ruthlessly suppressed under the Third Republic. Yet they were killed off by television, not the government. And they're more often than not a huge asset in politics. 1/. https://twitter.com/thelocalfrance/status/1280853147640950785
A (southwestern) accent never harmed François Bayrou, the Centrist would-be kingmaker. Ditto of Gaullist Charles Pasqua, Chirac's Corsican enforcer, Home Secretaries. Famous Auvergnats from Pierre Laval to Antoine Pinay reassured with their distinctive accent (if not policies).2/
Right now, after the Gilets Jaunes crisis, a regional accent is a huge asset: Il makes you sound connected to your roots and to the people, not a hated Paris technocrat. (PM Jean Castex is a mandarin/technocrat: his accent is brilliant protective colouring.)
Also: the French… 3/
Also: the French… 3/
…will never make a public political joke about something that would truly create resentment; that would be unforgivable in politics. Edouard Philippe could make the joke to Castex precisely because it linked Castex to tradition and the countryside, a constituency whose... 4/
…symbolic influence is out of proportion with its numbers. "Scratch a Parisian and you'll find someone with farming roots" is a hugely reassuring statement here — and it's almost true. (Which is why "La terre, elle, ne ment pas" was a stroke of genius in darker times.) ends 5/
(Lots of "huges" in this thread, we need the edit button, @Twitter !)
