Saturday, December 08, 2007
Snobbery is back with a vengance
There is a lot of snob value in the French Language. GCSE O Level is spoken and understood by only those who have learned it. Trust me, I have been to France on numerous occasions and my O Level French is always met with the incredulity that I may as well be speaking Classical Hebrew. I tried this tack in Paris, I spoke O Level French through the nose and successfully got une biere, une chambre dans l'hotel, un cafe.
When I read Tolstoy's War and Peace, the main characters were conversing with each other in French; it was Tolstoy's mechanism that the aristocracy and rich people separated themselves from the Russian Plebs. The richest irony in the book is that the Napoleonic Army invades the land and poses this class under immediate threat.
I was in Dulwich today, discovered that a hairdresser was called "Coiffure" and a baby accessory shop called Jojo Maman Bébé. (Who the fuck is Jojo?, the erstwhile Dad who's done a bunk on the child maintenance?) There is a burgeoning snob community in East Dulwich. Anything like this would pander to this breed of people who are no doubt New Model Parents, M & S shoppers and all the bullshit which comes with them.
When I read Tolstoy's War and Peace, the main characters were conversing with each other in French; it was Tolstoy's mechanism that the aristocracy and rich people separated themselves from the Russian Plebs. The richest irony in the book is that the Napoleonic Army invades the land and poses this class under immediate threat.
I was in Dulwich today, discovered that a hairdresser was called "Coiffure" and a baby accessory shop called Jojo Maman Bébé. (Who the fuck is Jojo?, the erstwhile Dad who's done a bunk on the child maintenance?) There is a burgeoning snob community in East Dulwich. Anything like this would pander to this breed of people who are no doubt New Model Parents, M & S shoppers and all the bullshit which comes with them.
Labels: Class, consumerism, french language, snob, snobbery
