The 40th album of the adventures of Asterix, “The White Iris”, was released on October 26, by Hachette, with a circulation of more than five million copies. A social phenomenon, an extraordinary success. Decryption with sociologist Jean Viard.
This week the 40th album of the adventures of Asterix was released, The white Iris, with a circulation of more than five million copies. It is always a success, a social phenomenon. It must be said that, according to the President of the Republic Emmanuel Macron, the French have something of Asterix in us: “This Lutheran people who have experienced the transformations of recent decades are not exactly the Gauls resistant to change, but, even so…” It was in August 2018, during a speech in Denmark. The remarks provoked a strong reaction.
franceinfo: In fact, Jean Viard, we French are quite proud of Asterix, of what he represents, of this Gallic spirit. Besides, does the Gallic spirit really inhabit us, according to you?
Jean Viard: In fact, it is a double phenomenon. The inventors of Asterix, in fact, are immigrants, they are foreigners, who arrived in France. This is the time when was created Pilot, which was a place of extraordinary innovation in comics in 1959, at the beginning of Gaullism. At the beginning of political Gaullism, not of resistance Gaullism. And that’s all there was: France, national independence, there were these immigrants. Basically, these immigrants discovered the first people, a bit like if we went to Canada or Australia, and saw the local populations. Their first people were the Gauls.
And it is this imagination that we must see. They wanted to go to the first people of this country, and it is obviously the Gallic village. And so this Gallic village, it is both correct, historically, all the historical events are correct, except that Obélix and Asterix did not exist, obviously. And what’s more, they always put topical characters in it, which is still the case in the last one. I believe there are two former prime ministers. That is to say that there is always a substrate. There, the debate is about vegans, food, losing weight, positive thinking, etc., which is mixed with History, but which is generally diverted.
For example, in an Asterix, there is Vercingetorix who goes to Caesar and who throws his weapons at his feet. In the comics, he throws the weapons at Caesar’s feet, there is a little shift. Afterwards, it’s an image of France that makes us happy, because deep down, we resist everything, we are very strong, but in real life, it’s a somewhat outdated image. We must not completely hide the fact that it is not France that sends rockets into the air, it is not creative and innovative France.
But there is also a slightly anti-elite, resistant side, is that what you are saying?
Yes, it’s also because it comes from that era. Pilot was created by resistance fighters, resistant left-wing Catholics. So, the intellectual origin of this world is that, it’s the resistance, and it’s left-wing Catholics. So it’s not a communist magazine. There were also very important communist magazines at the time, for children. And basically, there is this idea of resistance, that’s what is carried through time, by this series. It’s not just a series, in France, they have sold 500 million copies, a series translated into 117 languages.
The problem is that it’s a bit our own caricature, I would say that it has somewhat replaced the French “béret, baguette de pain”, the caricature of French, before and after the war. Well, it worked, but at the same time, it’s an image of combat, and it’s a joyful image, because the village of the Gauls is festive.
This Asterix, as you said, makes fun of everything that exists around positive thinking. This has always been the case in Asterix, to laugh at certain trends, at certain clichés. That’s also important in a society, right?
Yes, but that’s why, it’s a book that is thought of in the present, it’s not just a story of Gauls and Romans. It’s also a book about today’s everyday issues, about the relationship with food, that’s what makes it interesting. There are several reading levels. It’s a series for teenagers and at the same time, it’s a place for reflection, adults read it too.
We can all read it, so it has become a bit of a national emblem. I would perhaps put Proust aside, there is indeed Asterix and Obelix. And then we can find other elements, but above all, consider that it is one of the elements of a puzzle, but it is not France, it is a certain image of France.