- After declaring war on the coronavirus last Monday, Emmanuel Macron wanted to be once again a war chief in Mulhouse, "on the front line", on Wednesday.
- The war metaphor is a kind of zero degree of communication, obvious in times of exceptional crisis, estimates for 20 Minutes the semiologist Mariette Darrigrand.
- Yet it is not devoid of meaning, at a time when we call for the mobilization of each and everyone, thinks historian Jean Garrigues.
“The spun metaphor, says Wikipedia, is a figure of speech made up of a series of metaphors on the same theme. The first metaphor generates others, constructed from the same comparator. Example: the metaphor of war to speak of the fight against a disease, at the heart of a health crisis.
If the 35 million people who watched Emmanuel Macron's speech on Monday March 16 had not understood (six times) that we were at war with the coronavirus, 24 million viewers were entitled to a course catch-up on Wednesday evening.
After 8 p.m., the President of the Republic spoke on television from Mulhouse (Haut-Rhin), the epicenter of the health crisis in France, against a khaki tent background: he was in front of the military field hospital deployed by them days by the military. With reference to the first lines, second lines and third lines organized in this fight against the coronavirus which contaminates and kills more people every day. The communication strategy of the President of the Republic now seems very clear: he wants to appear as a warlord and requests the general mobilization of the country.
"Not very original"
For semiologist Mariette Darrigrand, the choice of this strategy is "not very original". She explains to 20 Minutes that the metaphor of war is an association of ideas evident in the context. “This is the first idea that communicators have to think about. Because war is precisely what we do not experience in democracy in normal times. This health crisis is precisely out of the ordinary. In the end she judges that "it is not even an idea of com, it is ancestral evidence".
A reflex, okay, but does it make sense? Yes, for the historian Jean Garrigues of the Parliamentary and Political History Committee, questioned by 20 Minutes : “A certain number of cyclical signs can justify the use of this theme. Knowing that the precautions of use were taken to mean that we were not fighting against other human beings, that it was a universal fight against the virus. But in terms of mobilization capacity, I can think of no better theme. "
Mariette Darrigrand, who also runs the blog L'Observatoire des mots, also believes: “It takes us to a grandiose level, epic tale, epic. This health crisis brings us to this exceptional level where we must all show grandiose qualities. "
De Gaulle, an incontrovertible model
Perhaps at the risk of ridicule? This choice to use or even use the lexical field of the military is already criticized. Jean Garrigues does not share them, believing that societies always function by analogy with previous periods. And here it works pretty well: “We are in the order of the irrational and the unconscious, but the previous deadly health crisis was the Spanish flu, during the war. However, the First World War has been widely celebrated in recent years with the centenary. "
And then there is the shadow cast by the founder of our current institutions, General De Gaulle - "on our shoulder", says even Mariette Darrigrand. “In a democratic society where we no longer really exercise the warlike function, we try to exercise it symbolically. Since De Gaulle it's always like that. Because he, he really did, war. It shows that our "ideal" figure of the sovereign president is a warrior. It is the "ideal" figure of politics. "
A bet
Except that making this analysis there, Jean Garrigues recognizes it, it is also to make a kind of bet. “We are trying to reactivate the mythology of war in a society which has forgotten war. Are young French people still receptive to these referents? No doubt much less than previous generations. The military fact is much less important, despite the external operations of the past thirty years. "
Mariette Darrigrand, for her part, does not want to judge the merits of the Elysée's strategy, but still doubts the relevance of the repetition: “Not too much is needed. He set the framework, now the politician must find his place at a time when he is very dependent on the science and expertise he does not have. Politics is less demanded from the angle of war than from that of collective intelligence. A sort of conductor more than a war conductor.
Big sayer, little doer
Another risk is that of having a gap between words and actions, if the latter do not follow. The controversy over masks and tests is there to remind us. But here too, Jean Garrigues sees it as consistent with the war metaphor: “Those who have waged wars have been very criticized, like Clemenceau. Some also saw in the presidential visit to Mulhouse a nod to the Clemenceau visiting the Poilus on the front in 1918.
It is of course too early to know if Emmanuel Macron's communication will work. "Arbitration will be done through the eyes of public opinion," thinks Jean Garrigues. Will she feel that everything has been done or that there has been a delay in lighting? "On this subject, first clues still shed light on us. In the monthly Ipsos survey on the popularity of the executive, Emmanuel Macron won 14 points of positive opinion, at 44%. Negative opinions remain the majority, but all the same.
A contradictory opinion?
Mathieu Gallard, director of studies in this polling institute, does not see fundamentally an effect of the choices of communication of the president of the Republic these last days. “It is a normal phenomenon in times of crisis. We looked at events of a somewhat similar nature in the past and we have very strong increases in popularity of François Hollande in 2015 at the time of the attacks, for Jacques Chirac in September 2001 and to a lesser extent for Nicolas Sarkozy during the crisis economy of 2008. As soon as there is a crisis, whether military, economic or terrorist, there is a mechanical effect on the popularity of the president. In Italy, the popularity of Giuseppe Conte also increased very strongly. "You don't have to learn from it in the long term. These rebounds have been short-lived in the past, ”also recalls Jean Garrigues.
71% of French people (+14 points) think that the #government did not react quickly
61% of French people (+15 points) consider that it does not give all the means to #health infrastructures and professionals to fight against #coronavirus
📈 Developments 03/15 /03 03/20 pic.twitter.com/vhTv2LaZam
Questioned by 20 Minutes , the pollster does not see any contradiction with other polls, on the background of the action of the government, which show at least an initial distrust of public opinion. “You really have to be careful with the dates of the surveys. I think that, at the end of last week, the French remained behind the government. In recent days things have deteriorated. It sounds like a contradiction but these are just different times. We will see more clearly in a week, when we have reached cruising speed. "
Television
Emmanuel Macron's speech live from Mulhouse was followed by 24.1 million viewers
Society
"Here, we have worked together to treat, to save," says Emmanuel Macron in Mulhouse.
- Emmanuel Macron
- Coronavirus
- War
- Covid 19
- Communication