Are the French done with the party?

Jérémie Peltier, director of studies of the Foundation Jean Jaurès, is the author of the book “La fête est finie?”“. the Covid-19 isresponsible? “I do not believe”, he assures. “I believe that long before the health crisis and the confinements, the party as we heard it before was already considered non-essential in the lives of individuals”, he continues. And this, even if the “bamboche” is everywhere: in monuments converted into nightclubs, aperitifs, departure drinks. “When you have the feeling that you are partying all the time, in the end, you no longer need moments that are a little separated from the rest, like [on entend] normally the party from a very classic point of view “, analysis Jérémie Peltier.

One of the reasons for these developments could be the advent of social networks. Gold, “Dionysus is not compatible with Narcissus”, warns Jérémie Peltier. “The problem in our time is that the party is filmed live. […] When we spend our time showing what we are doing, directing it, we watch ourselves partying a lot more than partying “, he explains. The party would also be disrupted by the emergence of a “cocoon civilization”, with a restriction to the private sphere and the development of mistrust. As a result, France, which had 4,000 nightclubs 50 years ago, only had 2,000 before the Covid-19. Furthermore, “the spirit of celebration” would be just as threatened as the party itself: both by the carelessness lost following the attacks of November 13, Puritanism or a new relationship to laughter.