Probing Question: Do we misunderstand French culture?

By Melissa Beattie-Moss - Research/Penn State Reflecting on his 1879 sojourn in France, Mark Twain - our most quintessentially American writer - quipped, "In Paris they simply stared when I spoke to them in French; I never did succeed in making those idiots understand their own language." Twain is one in a long line of Americans who have found the French to be aloof, unfriendly and rude. Is there truth in the stereotypes or do we misunderstand the French character? "To begin with," said Willa Silverman , professor of French and Jewish studies in College of the Liberal Arts, "both the United States and France are diverse and pluralistic societies, so the notion of 'national character' is something of a mythical construction. This being said, I will offer that the French, whose society had rigid hierarchies for many centuries, place a greater, if subtle, emphasis on boundaries and distance - between public and private space; between and among social and generational groups; and between strangers and intimates." For example, noted Silverman, it would be unheard of in France for a server in a restaurant to introduce him/herself to patrons, or for strangers to smile and greet each other in the street, "whereas this type of breezy informality is familiar to most Americans." Recalling her first trip to Paris when she was 16, Silverman said, "I mistakenly used the familiar form of address - "tu" - in a public place with a man I did not know. Looking on, my horrified hosts chided me about not respecting the social and gender codes regarding age and level of intimacy." If we regard the French as snobby and too formal, the French often remark on Americans outsized, even slightly aggressive friendliness and disrespect for the personal space of others," explained Silverman.