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Gargantua and Parisian good manners

Posté par admin
dimanche 28 août 2005 [n° 358]

You will probably have to read the full text chapter of Rabelais’ Gargantua quoted thereafter, to understand why the decision of the International Olympic Committee to designate London in preference of Paris, 1 as the winning candidate city to host the 2012 olympic games, was sometimes qualified as a “Gargantuesque decicision”. 2

Such announcement was a shock for France. If we were to express that feeling in a metaphorical way, one would say that the decision caused the same effect as a “cold shower” . But for the reader familiar with the Rabelaisian grotesque, it was just the contrary.

The situation recalled a momentous “hot shower” on the good city of Paris. It is you to discover the cause of this literary paradox which defies the Parisian good manners.

By my sweet Sanctess, we are washed in sport, a sport truly to laugh at;—in French, Par ris, for which that city hath been ever since called Paris; whose name formerly was Leucotia, as Strabo testifieth, lib. quarto, from the Greek word leukotes, whiteness,—because of the white thighs of the ladies of that place. And forasmuch as, at this imposition of a new name, all the people that were there swore everyone by the Sancts of his parish, the Parisians, which are patched up of all nations and all pieces of countries, are by nature both good jurors and good jurists, and somewhat overweening; whereupon Joanninus de Barrauco, libro de copiositate reverentiarum, thinks that they are called Parisians from the Greek word parresia, which signifies boldness and liberty in speech.

Chapter 1.XVII.—How Gargantua paid his welcome to the Parisians, and how he took away the great bells of Our Lady’s Church Gargantua and Pantagruel, Book I – Projec Gutenberg

Paris was victim of its good manners, explained self-proclaimed experts in national disasters, and would-be exorcists prompt to recognize the smearing laughters of Evil behind the smiling faces of millions of British celebrating an “unfair” and humiliating victory. The Perfide Albion may fool the IOC, but not Saint Michael the Archangel, they say.

Since French good manners seem to be our Achille’s heel, suggested the more pragmatic ones, why not export our know-how ?

The project is noteworthy, but after much reading on the subject, including the consultation of a voluminous amount of data and archives supposed to document our oustanding moral qualities 3, it appears that the project might nevertheless fall short of the expected panacea to rebuild our wounded self-esteem.

La belle parisienne Music by Gustav KERKER

Lyrics :

Ze-amer-i-can girl she walk like zis, In an haugh-ty mannaire !

Ze-amer-i-can girl she dance like zis, In an haugh-ty mannaire !

Lady from France she walk like zis, In an naughty mannaire !

Lady from France she dance like zis, In an naughty mannaire !


  1. Why London won the Olympics BBC [back]
  2. For Paris, another stab in the heart strikes deep By Elaine Sciolino The New York Times, July 7, 2005
    image : Gargantua, by Gustave Doré- Prologue [back]
  3. Belle of New York. Belle parisienne. Vocal score.
    \La belle parisienne / words by Hugh Morton ; music by Gustave Kerker.
    Kerker, Gustave Adolph, 1857-1923.
    London : New York :
    Francis, Day & Hunter ; T.B. Harms,
    c1897.
    1 vocal score (3 p.) : ill. ; 35 cm. [back]
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