A STUDY IN RHETORIC
30 November 2021
Zemmour: journalist, polemicist, presidential candidate...His candidacy speech embraces you, oppresses you, haunts you, rallies you. It's a masterpiece in the use of rhetoric.
https://youtu.be/k8IGBDK1BH8
He appears speaking behind a huge mike and in front of ancient books stacked on shelves, reminding us of De Gaulle's wartime calls for resistance (Appeal of June 18 by General de Gaulle).
He begins by telling us his mission, which is to save France from decline "so that our daughters don't have to wear headscarves and our sons don't have to be submissive".
"I understood that no politician would have the courage to save the country from the tragic fate that awaited it. I understood that all these supposedly competent people were mostly helpless [...] That in all parties, they were content with reforms while time is running out. It is no longer time to reform France, but to save it.
I therefore decided to stand for the presidential election."
If you want to know more about how he uses repetition (1), insistence (2), the transfer of allegiance from "you" to "we" (3), mirroring (4), tirades of accumulation (5), assonance (a rhythm of similar sounds) (6) dramatic background music (7):
Do you remember the country you knew in your childhood? Do you remember the country your parents described to you? Do you remember the country you find in the movies?
2. Accumulation, insistence
our lifestyles, our traditions, our language, our conversations, our controversies on history or fashion, our taste for literature and gastronomy
Joan of Arc, Pasteur, de Gaulle, Molière or even Notre Dame and village churches: all these figures are associated with the word "country". This word is repeated 24 times in two minutes.
The powerful, the elites, the well-meaning, the journalists, the politicians, the academics , the sociologists, the trade unionists, the religious authorities.
The country of Joan of Arc and Louis XIV [..] of knights and gentes dames [..] fables of La Fontaine, characters of Molière and verses of Racine
https://youtu.be/hphXPJJMl7g
3. From "you" to "we" - pushing you to side with him
You walk [..] you look at your screens [...] you take subways [...] you wait for your daughter or your son at the end of school ...
And it's why we must [...], and it's why we must [...], and it's why we must [...], and it's why we must [...],
A chacun son rôle, à chacun son métier, à chacun son combat
We must give back the power to the people, take it back from minorities that oppress the majority.
4. Mirroring
You have not left your country, but it is as if your country has left you. You are exiles from within.
You were despised [...] but you understood that it was they who were the bait, it was they who had everything wrong, it was they who were harming you
5. Tirade
The French people have been intimidated, paralyzed, indoctrinated, made to feel guilty
For a thousand years, we have been one of the powers that have written the history of the world. We will be worthy of our ancestors. We will not allow ourselves to be dominated, vassalized, conquered, colonized. We will not let ourselves be replaced
6. Assonance, alliteration
Rééquilibrer...réduire....ramener... redonner
"S" and "P" c'est pourquoi
7. Dramatic music background
Rather ironic this as the music is not from French culture, it is the adagio of the 7th Symphony of the German composer Ludwig van Beethoven, also used in The speech of a king, a British made film.
is.gd/mMZ3Wz
8. Black n white photos
He contrasts a past glorious France, using black and white images of black and white of Jean Gabin, Alain Delon, Brigitte Bardot, Johnny Halliday, Charles Aznavour, Georges Brassens, Barbara; with scenes of violence and social unrest from today.
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