Belgitude
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| - | Le terme de '''belgitude''' a été forgé, au détour des [[années 1970]]-[[années 1980|1980]], par allusion au concept de [[négritude]] exprimé par [[Léopold Sédar Senghor]]. Il recouvre en quelque sorte, avec le sens aigu de l'[[autodérision]] qui caractérise les [[Belgique|Belges]], l'étendue de leur interrogation identitaire. L'identité belge apparaît comme une identité « en creux » : elle se définit surtout par tout ce qu'elle n'est pas. Le Belge n'est ni [[France|Français]], ni [[Pays-Bas|Néerlandais]], ni [[Allemagne|Allemand]], tout en étant un peu de tout cela : ancien sujet des [[Habsbourg]] d'[[Espagne]] puis d'[[Autriche]], ancien citoyen de la [[République française]], puis du [[Premier Empire]], Néerlandais après le [[Congrès de Vienne]], enfin devenu indépendant à la faveur d'un consentement paternel des grandes puissances. | ||
| - | == Définition == | + | '''''Belgitude''''' is a term used to express the [[Belgium|Belgian]] soul and identity. |
| - | A l'intérieur du pays même, le Belge se définit par ailleurs généralement par d'autres appartenances : il existe une identité flamande et une identité wallonne, cette dernière plus tournée vers la ville de résidence que vers l'ensemble du monde francophone belge. | + | |
| - | Malgré cette identité complexe, ou ce manque d'identité, l'histoire de la [[Belgique]] est prestigieuse : puissance économique passée (deuxième puissance économique mondiale en 1850), [[Godefroy de Bouillon]], [[Horum omnium fortissimi sunt Belgæ|« éloge » de Jules César]], [[Charlemagne]], destins individuels ([[Georges Simenon]], [[Hergé]], [[Jean-Claude Van Damme]]), ... | + | ==Context== |
| - | Le concept de "belgitude" exprimerait la difficulté du Belge à se définir comme tel. Plus profondément, la difficulté qu'il a à gérer le conflit entre ses tendances centripètes (je suis moi) et ses tendances centrifuges (je suis germain, je suis latin...). | + | Contrary to most other countries [[Belgians]] have a mixed feeling towards their identity as one people. This is a result of being occupied by many foreign European powers throughout the centuries, which led to an [[inferiority complex]] about their status and power in the world. The regions were conquered by [[Roman Empire|Romans]], [[Carolingian Empire|French]], [[Burgundian Netherlands|Burgondia]], [[Spanish Empire|Spain]], [[Austrian-Hungarian Empire|Austria-Hungary]], [[Napoleonic Empire|the French again]] and finally [[The Netherlands]] before becoming independent in [[1830]]. And even then they were occupied again by [[Germany|the Germans]] during the [[First World War]] and [[Second World War]]. Another aspect contributing to ''belgitude'' is the fact that many Belgians identify more with being [[Flanders|Flemish]], [[Wallonia|Walloon]] or part of [[Brussels]], but even within those groups many feel more attached to being part of a city or province than any national or community identity. There have been countless issues between the Flemish and Walloon [[Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium|communities]] throughout Belgian history that often lead to intense political discussions and crisises in Belgian parliament. |
| - | Au quotidien, ce malaise trouve à se consoler dans une espèce de culte du dérisoire et du [[folklore]] dont les termes s'articulent sur une récupération a priori de l'ironie d'autrui : culture alimentaire ([[frite]]s, [[Moule (mollusque)|moule]]s, [[chicon]]s, [[chocolat]]), breuvages nationaux ([[bière]], [[genièvre (boisson)|genièvre]]), [[fête]]s locales (Gilles de [[Binche]], fêtes [[étudiant|estudiantines]],...), etc. | + | The Belgian identity is seen as a "hollow" identity: it is defined mostly by what it is not. For example, the Belgian is neither [[French people|French]], [[Dutch people|Dutch]] or [[German people|German]]. At the time of the term's coinage, it was not accepted by the general population, and the term seemed to have "more cultural than political weight". At the time, belgitude could be synonymous with [[Marginalization|marginality]]. [[Susan Bainbrigge]] defines it as "a term that represents [the] new approach to [[francophone]] [[Belgium]] specificity [that emerged] in the 1970s and 1980s". It involved the extent of the questioning identity of Belgians with the sense of self-mockery that characterizes them. |
| - | En art et littérature, la belgitude sera donc exprimée par un culte quasi-immodéré du [[surréalisme]]. Tandis qu'au niveau de la vie de tous les jours, elle s'exprimera au contraire par rejet viscéral de tout ce qui transcende la normalité. | + | ==History of the Belgian feeling of identity== |
| - | L'idée de "belgitude" et sa première grande manifestation dans le numéro de la Revue de l'ULB intitulé La Belgique malgré tout ! a suscité une réplique (au moins implicite), dans le [[Manifeste pour la culture wallonne]], c'est ce que proposent comme analyse les collaborateurs de Histoire de la littérature belge, parue chez Fayard en 2003: Michel Biron écrit dans ce livre ''"Pour les écrivains flamands et wallons, on n'écrit jamais de nulle part."'' | + | During his conquest of [[Gaul]] in 54 before Christ [[Julius Caesar]] wrote in his [[Commentarii de Bello Gallico]] about the three Celtic tribes that inhabited the country, namely the ''[[Aquitani]]'' in the southwest, the ''[[Gauls]]'' of the biggest central part, who in their own language were called ''Celtae'', and the ''[[Belgae]]'' in the north. Caesar famously wrote that the [[Belgae]] were ''"the bravest of the three peoples, being farthest removed from the highly developed civilization of the Roman Province, least often visited by merchants with enervating luxuries for sale, and nearest to the Germans across the [[Rhine]], with whom they are continually at war"''. Despite Caesar referring to the Celtic tribe the Belgae and not modern day Belgium the quote was used a lot in Belgian history books from the 1830s on while the new independent state searched for its own identity. |
| - | Nous ne pourrions mieux définir la belgitude qu'en la disant être un paradoxe né d'un paradoxe : la [[Belgique]] surtout à [[Bruxelles]]. | + | The most famous quote about the Belgian identity was said by the Walloon socialist politician [[Jules Destrée]]. According to Destrée, Belgium was composed of two separate entities, [[Flanders]] and [[Wallonia]], and a feeling of [[Belgian nationalism]] was not possible, illustrated in his 1906 work "Une idée qui meurt: la patrie" (''An idea that is dying: the fatherland''). In the "Revue de Belgique" of 15 August 1912 he articulated this in his famous and notorious "Lettre au roi sur la séparation de la Wallonie et de la Flandre" (''Letter to the king on the separation of Wallonia and Flanders''), where he wrote: {{quote|Il y a en Belgique des Wallons et des Flamands. Il n'y a pas de Belges.<br>''In Belgium there are [[Walloons]] and [[Flemish people|Fleming]]s. There are no [[Belgian]]s.''}} Contrary to later interpretations Destrée didn't favor separatism, but wanted a move to a [[federal state]]. King [[Albert I of Belgium]] wrote an official answer to the letter, which read: ''I read the letter of Destrée, which, without uncertainty, is some literature of great talent. All that he said is absolutely true, but it is not less true that administrative separation would be an evil with more disadvantages and dangers than any aspect of the current situation.'' In 1960 Flemish politician [[Gaston Eyskens]] modified this quote, saying "Sire, il n'y a plus de Belges" (''Sire, there are no more Belgians''), after the first steps were taken to transform Belgium into a [[federal state]]. |
| - | ==Critique de la « belgitude »== | + | ==Etymology== |
| - | Pour d'autres, la « belgitude » est un concept totalement artificiel, un [[sophisme]], une « invention bruxelloise », créé ''a posteriori'' pour tenter de combler le manque flagrant d’unité culturelle en [[Belgique]]. « La belgitude, c'est le supplétif à l'angoisse existentielle de la bourgeoisie bruxelloise », selon l'aveu même du philosophe et théoricien de la belgitude [[Jacques Sojcher]]. | + | |
| - | La belgitude est artificielle car elle n'a pris que chez les [[Communauté française de Belgique|francophones de Belgique]] (surtout à [[Bruxelles]]), les [[Région_flamande|Flamands]] ne se reconnaissent pas dans cette abstraction et les « chantres » de la belgitude font partie, pour la plupart, de la sphère culturelle belge francophone. | + | The [[neologism]] "belgitude" was coined in 1976, by [[Pierre Mertens]] and Claude Jevaeu in as issue of the ''Nouvelles littéraires'' called "L'autre Belgique". It alludes to the term ''[[négritude]]'' about feeling black, expressed by [[Leopold Sedar Senghor]]. The term caught on quick enough to be referred to in Belgian singer [[Jacques Brel]]'s song "Mai 1940" ("May 1940"), which was left off his final album ''[[Les Marquises]]'' in 1977, but made available in 2003. In the song Brel refers to German soldiers who occupied Belgium during [[World War Two]] and wiped out his belgitude: |
| - | La belgitude, c'est d’abord une réécriture de l'histoire qui fait remonter la Belgique à la nuit des temps et qui oublie allègrement que comtés, duchés, et principautés qui l’ont composé furent longtemps ennemis et ne connurent pas d’État commun et centralisé avant leur intégration dans la [[Révolution française|France révolutionnaire]]. La belgitude s’approprie les princes français, espagnols, allemands et autrichiens qui régnèrent sur les provinces belges pour en faire des souverains nationaux : [[Godefroy de Bouillon]], [[Charlemagne]], [[Philippe le Bon]], [[Charles Quint]]... Alors que ces personnages ignoraient la notion même de l’entité ''Belgique'' et auraient êté fort étonnés de se voir affubler du qualificatif de ''Belges''. | + | ''D'un ciel plus bleu qua'à l'habitude'', ''(Translation: "From a heaven bluer than usual")'' |
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| + | ''Ce mai 40 a salué'' ''(Translation: "That May 1940 greeted")'' | ||
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| + | ''Quelques Allemands disciplinés'' ''(Translation: "Several disciplined Germans")'' | ||
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| + | ''Qui écrasaient ma belgitude,'' ''(Translation: "Who wiped out my belgitude".)'' | ||
| - | Sous une apparente bonhomie, la belgitude relève du [[chauvinisme]] : on considère le [[surréalisme]] comme typiquement belge, le belge s'attribue lui-même ses propres qualités intrinsèques (l'humour, la modestie, l’esprit de dérision, Etc.), on érige les [[régionalisme_(linguistique)|régionalismes]] wallons et bruxellois (dits [[Français de Belgique|« belgicismes »]]) comme le fondement de l’identité belge, alors que ces « belgicismes » n’existent pas en Flandre (mais existent dans le Nord de la France) ... | ||
| - | La belgitude se définit par opposition aux autres cultures : ni allemande, ni néerlandaise... La belgitude, étant presque exclusivement partagée par les [[Communauté française de Belgique|Belges francophones]], cherche principalement à se différencier de la culture française. Pour ce faire, elle se base sur des stéréotypes qu’elle renforce : Le français est considéré comme chauvin et arrogant, tandis que le belge est supposé humble et courtois. | + | In 2012 the word "Belgitude" was listed in the French encyclopedia, the [[Petit Larousse]]'' |
| - | Ce processus d’auto-définition et d’exclusion de l’« autre » est une stratégie courante pour légitimer le régime en place: la belgitude relève du mythe destiné à créer une unité identitaire factice et à démarquer (de manière tout aussi factice) le Belge de ses voisins, à le distancier des « autres » qui ne partagent pas ses qualités et « ses » héros historiques. | ||
| - | La Belgitude ne nie pas seulement les cultures française, néerlandaise et allemande de ses habitants ; mais aussi l'identité régionale de ses habitants. Ainsi la belgitude est la négation des identités flamandes et wallonnes. [[José Fontaine]], militant régionaliste wallon et philosophe, définira d'ailleurs la belgitude dans ces termes : | + | ==Examples of belgitudes== |
| - | {{Citation bloc|C'est cela la belgitude, l'idée qu'être belge c'est avoir l'identité de la non-identité, d'être petit, minuscule, sans épaisseur, médiocre, hybride... tous défauts revendiqués comme tels et qui, assumés, deviennent la gloire belge actuelle. Ce n'est d'ailleurs pas qu'une négation de la Wallonie, c'est la négation de toute appartenance, l'acceptation du vide, du non-sens, de l'errance, du non-lieu, du vide comme étant le plein.}} | + | Belgitude is characterised by things that are unique to Belgian culture, such as [[Belgian Dutch]] and [[Belgian French]]. The Dutch in Belgium has many [[gallicism]]s and the French in Belgium many [[hollandism]]s, both in terms of words as well as grammar. The word "bourgemestre" ([[mayor]]) in Wallonia, for instance, is clearly inspired by the Dutch word "burgemeester" and differs considerably from the commonly accepted French word "maire". The word "plezant" ("amusing") in [[Flanders]] is a derivation of the French word "plaisant" and is hardly used in [[The Netherlands]]. |
| - | D’un côté, la belgitude est un concept qui glorifie les rares points communs entre Flamands et Wallons : la [[bière]], le [[chocolat]], les [[frites]]... Aliments qui, faute de mieux, tiennent lieu d'identité nationale. | + | Typical foods and drinks, such as [[Belgian beer]], [[moules frites]], [[speculaas]], [[waterzooi]], [[witloof]], [[Brussels sprouts]], [[Belgian chocolate]],... are also seen as examples of belgitude, because they are often promoted abroad. People who were important to Belgian history are also often cited: [[Ambiorix]], [[Godfrey of Bouillon]], [[Charles V of Spain]], [[Adolphe Sax]], [[Baudouin of Belgium]], as are cultural icons such as [[Manneken Pis]], the [[Carnival of Binche|Gilles of Binche]], [[Pieter Bruegel the Elder]], [[Peter Paul Rubens]], [[Tintin (character)|Tintin]], [[Inspector Maigret]], the [[Atomium]], [[Jacques Brel]], [[René Magritte]], [[Soeur Sourire]], [[Django Reinhardt]],... In the fields of sport [[Eddy Merckx]] and the [[Belgium national football team|Red Devils]] are a good example. The song ''"[[Potverdekke! (It's great to be a Belgian)]]" (1998)'' by [[John Makin|Mr. John]] is also an expression of belgitude. The satirical comedy and film adaptation ''[[Sois Belge et tais-toi]]'', the films of [[Jan Bucquoy]] and the comedy team [[Les Snuls]] are all loving and mocking tributes to the Belgian identity. |
| - | D’autre part, la négation des identités wallonnes et flamandes trouve son lieu d’expression privilégié dans ce que José Fontaine appelle le « discours ''antiwallon'' » qui découle de la belgitude et qui déprécie systématiquement la Wallonie et ses habitants, empêchant ces derniers d’avoir une image positive d’eux-mêmes ou de leur région autrement qu’à travers la [[Belgique]] et [[Bruxelles]]. Voici un exemple de ce discours antiwallon dans ''La Belgique toujours grande et belle'' (un des ouvrages fondateurs de la belgitude) ; [[Thierry Smits]] y écrit dans un texte intitulé « il y a autant de nains de jardin en Flandre qu’en Wallonie » : | + | ==See also== |
| - | + | * [[Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium]] | |
| - | :"... je ne me sens Wallon à aucun égard – mais si je devais suivre la filière du droit du sang, vu la famille de mon père, je serais peut-être wallon ? Aïe ! Heureusement je ne suis pas cette filière là. [...] c’est une région pour laquelle j’ai parfois un léger sentiment de mépris, parce que j’ai l’impression qu’ils ont perdu une guerre. J’ai l’image d’une région perdante, que culturellement j’associe à des chansonnettes et à l’accordéon." | + | * [[History of Belgium]] |
| - | + | * [[Languages of Belgium]] | |
| - | + | ||
| - | ==Chantres et icônes de la belgitude== | + | |
| - | *[[Arno Hintjens|Arno]] | + | |
| - | *[[Rémy Belvaux]] | + | |
| - | *[[Plastic Bertrand]] | + | |
| - | *[[Jacques Brel]] | + | |
| - | *[[Jean-Marie Buchet]] | + | |
| - | *[[Jan Bucquoy]] | + | |
| - | *[[Annie Cordy]] | + | |
| - | *[[Raymond Coumans]] | + | |
| - | *[[Hergé]] | + | |
| - | *[[Marcel De Keukeleire]] | + | |
| - | *[[Lou Deprijck]] | + | |
| - | *[[Noël Godin]] | + | |
| - | *[[Paule Herreman]] | + | |
| - | *[[Le Grand Jojo]] | + | |
| - | *[[Bouli Lanners]] | + | |
| - | *[[Roland Lethem]] | + | |
| - | *[[Didier Odieu]] | + | |
| - | *[[Pic Pic et André]] | + | |
| - | *[[Benoît Poelvoorde]] | + | |
| - | *[[Jean-Jacques Rousseau (cinéaste)|Jean-Jacques Rousseau]] | + | |
| - | *[[Claude Semal]] | + | |
| - | *[[Hooverphonic]] | + | |
| - | *[[Ozark Henry]] | + | |
| - | *[[Snuls]] | + | |
| - | *[[Sttellla]] | + | |
| - | *[[Urbanus (artiste)|Urbanus]] | + | |
| - | + | ||
| - | ==Manifestations diverses de la belgitude== | + | |
| - | * [[Émission spéciale de la RTBF du 13 décembre 2006]] | + | |
| - | * [[Sois Belge et tais-toi]] | + | |
| - | * [[Université de Houte-Si-Plou]] | + | |
| - | * [[La Muette de Portici (Auber)]] | + | |
| - | + | ||
| - | ==Liens internes== | + | |
| - | + | ||
| - | * [[Belgicanisme]] | + | |
| - | * [[Histoire de Belgique]] | + | |
| - | * [[Horum omnium fortissimi sunt Belgæ|« De tous les peuples de la Gaule, les Belges sont les plus braves »]] | + | |
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Revision as of 18:17, 22 December 2018
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Belgitude is a term used to express the Belgian soul and identity.
Contents |
Context
Contrary to most other countries Belgians have a mixed feeling towards their identity as one people. This is a result of being occupied by many foreign European powers throughout the centuries, which led to an inferiority complex about their status and power in the world. The regions were conquered by Romans, French, Burgondia, Spain, Austria-Hungary, the French again and finally The Netherlands before becoming independent in 1830. And even then they were occupied again by the Germans during the First World War and Second World War. Another aspect contributing to belgitude is the fact that many Belgians identify more with being Flemish, Walloon or part of Brussels, but even within those groups many feel more attached to being part of a city or province than any national or community identity. There have been countless issues between the Flemish and Walloon communities throughout Belgian history that often lead to intense political discussions and crisises in Belgian parliament.
The Belgian identity is seen as a "hollow" identity: it is defined mostly by what it is not. For example, the Belgian is neither French, Dutch or German. At the time of the term's coinage, it was not accepted by the general population, and the term seemed to have "more cultural than political weight". At the time, belgitude could be synonymous with marginality. Susan Bainbrigge defines it as "a term that represents [the] new approach to francophone Belgium specificity [that emerged] in the 1970s and 1980s". It involved the extent of the questioning identity of Belgians with the sense of self-mockery that characterizes them.
History of the Belgian feeling of identity
During his conquest of Gaul in 54 before Christ Julius Caesar wrote in his Commentarii de Bello Gallico about the three Celtic tribes that inhabited the country, namely the Aquitani in the southwest, the Gauls of the biggest central part, who in their own language were called Celtae, and the Belgae in the north. Caesar famously wrote that the Belgae were "the bravest of the three peoples, being farthest removed from the highly developed civilization of the Roman Province, least often visited by merchants with enervating luxuries for sale, and nearest to the Germans across the Rhine, with whom they are continually at war". Despite Caesar referring to the Celtic tribe the Belgae and not modern day Belgium the quote was used a lot in Belgian history books from the 1830s on while the new independent state searched for its own identity.
The most famous quote about the Belgian identity was said by the Walloon socialist politician Jules Destrée. According to Destrée, Belgium was composed of two separate entities, Flanders and Wallonia, and a feeling of Belgian nationalism was not possible, illustrated in his 1906 work "Une idée qui meurt: la patrie" (An idea that is dying: the fatherland). In the "Revue de Belgique" of 15 August 1912 he articulated this in his famous and notorious "Lettre au roi sur la séparation de la Wallonie et de la Flandre" (Letter to the king on the separation of Wallonia and Flanders), where he wrote: Template:Quote Contrary to later interpretations Destrée didn't favor separatism, but wanted a move to a federal state. King Albert I of Belgium wrote an official answer to the letter, which read: I read the letter of Destrée, which, without uncertainty, is some literature of great talent. All that he said is absolutely true, but it is not less true that administrative separation would be an evil with more disadvantages and dangers than any aspect of the current situation. In 1960 Flemish politician Gaston Eyskens modified this quote, saying "Sire, il n'y a plus de Belges" (Sire, there are no more Belgians), after the first steps were taken to transform Belgium into a federal state.
Etymology
The neologism "belgitude" was coined in 1976, by Pierre Mertens and Claude Jevaeu in as issue of the Nouvelles littéraires called "L'autre Belgique". It alludes to the term négritude about feeling black, expressed by Leopold Sedar Senghor. The term caught on quick enough to be referred to in Belgian singer Jacques Brel's song "Mai 1940" ("May 1940"), which was left off his final album Les Marquises in 1977, but made available in 2003. In the song Brel refers to German soldiers who occupied Belgium during World War Two and wiped out his belgitude:
D'un ciel plus bleu qua'à l'habitude, (Translation: "From a heaven bluer than usual")
Ce mai 40 a salué (Translation: "That May 1940 greeted")
Quelques Allemands disciplinés (Translation: "Several disciplined Germans")
Qui écrasaient ma belgitude, (Translation: "Who wiped out my belgitude".)
In 2012 the word "Belgitude" was listed in the French encyclopedia, the Petit Larousse
Examples of belgitudes
Belgitude is characterised by things that are unique to Belgian culture, such as Belgian Dutch and Belgian French. The Dutch in Belgium has many gallicisms and the French in Belgium many hollandisms, both in terms of words as well as grammar. The word "bourgemestre" (mayor) in Wallonia, for instance, is clearly inspired by the Dutch word "burgemeester" and differs considerably from the commonly accepted French word "maire". The word "plezant" ("amusing") in Flanders is a derivation of the French word "plaisant" and is hardly used in The Netherlands.
Typical foods and drinks, such as Belgian beer, moules frites, speculaas, waterzooi, witloof, Brussels sprouts, Belgian chocolate,... are also seen as examples of belgitude, because they are often promoted abroad. People who were important to Belgian history are also often cited: Ambiorix, Godfrey of Bouillon, Charles V of Spain, Adolphe Sax, Baudouin of Belgium, as are cultural icons such as Manneken Pis, the Gilles of Binche, Pieter Bruegel the Elder, Peter Paul Rubens, Tintin, Inspector Maigret, the Atomium, Jacques Brel, René Magritte, Soeur Sourire, Django Reinhardt,... In the fields of sport Eddy Merckx and the Red Devils are a good example. The song "Potverdekke! (It's great to be a Belgian)" (1998) by Mr. John is also an expression of belgitude. The satirical comedy and film adaptation Sois Belge et tais-toi, the films of Jan Bucquoy and the comedy team Les Snuls are all loving and mocking tributes to the Belgian identity.
See also
