法國奇葩文化部長稱“沒時間讀書”被要求下臺
When French novelist Patrick Modiano won the Nobel Prize for literature earlier in October, the country’s Culture Minister Fleur Pellerin said it showed the “influence and vitality of French literature in the eyes of the world”.
But in an interview with Canal+ on Sunday, Pellerin was forced to admit that she had never read any of the acclaimed French author’s novels.
“I haven’t had time to read anything in the last two years except for a lot of notes, legislative texts and news wires,” she said.
Not many people outside France had ever heard of Modiano when he was presented with his prize.
But in France, the culture minister is expected to be a beacon of the country’s cultural achievements.
And for many, a complete ignorance of France’s top literary laureate is an unforgivable sin.
Writer Tahar Ben Jelloun, who is on the jury for France’s prestigious Goncourt literature prize, told France Inter radio that Pellerin’s lack of knowledge was “shameful”.
“It’s very sad,” he said. “It is a culture minister's political duty to delve into literature. It is not possible that she hasn’t read a single Modiano novel. It is lamentable, but then we live in an era when culture is not taken seriously at all.”
Writing in the Huffington Post on Monday, commentator Claude Askolovitch said Pellerin’s failure to stay tuned in to the country’s literary achievements was “barbarian” and called on the minister to resign.
“If you can be a culture minister without reading books, what we are reduced to [culturally] are technicalities and budgets,” he wrote. “Nothing will uplift us, the soul is an illusion and all the great works are reduced to less than the minutes of a cabinet meeting.”
What annoyed Askolovitch even more was that Pellerin had not even bothered to pretend: “She isn’t the slightest bit interested in Modiano."
He added: “She didn’t bother to look up one book, or a single phrase, to make it look like she knows about him. She didn’t even want to pretend.”
Pellerin, 42, became culture minister in August following a cabinet reshuffle, having previously served as a junior minister for tourism and external trade as well as being responsible for promoting small and medium-sized businesses, innovation and the digital economy.
French news site on Monday called for the overworked minister to be given a break.
“We should welcome her frankness in telling us that a minister’s schedule leaves little place for the calm needed to enjoy reading,” the site said in an editorial.
“In not mugging up on notes about the author, she spared us from a lie.”據France24網站10月27日報道，法國文化部長芙勒·佩樂琳（Fleur Pellerin）在電視採訪中表示，兩年來她從未讀過任何一部小說，對獲得諾貝爾獎的法國小說家帕特里克·莫迪亞諾（Patrick Modiano）的作品也一無所知。
今年10月初，法國小說家帕特里克·莫迪亞諾（Patrick Modiano）榮獲諾貝爾文學獎。法國文化部長芙勒·佩樂琳（Fleur Pellerin）曾評價其體現了“世界人民眼中法國文學的影響力和活力”。
但在26日的電視採訪中，佩樂琳被迫承認他從未讀過這位廣受讚譽的法國作家的任何一部作品。“過去兩年間，我除了看一些通告、立法文件和電傳新聞之外，沒有時間讀書。”
莫迪亞諾獲得諾貝爾文學獎的消息傳來時，法國以外地區的民衆對他了解甚少。但在法國本土，人們都期待這位文學大師成爲法國文壇的明燈。對於大多數人而言，對法國優秀文學一無所知是不可原諒的。
法國龔古爾文學獎評委塔哈爾·本·傑隆（Tahar Ben Jelloun）在接受法國國際電臺（France Inter）採訪時表示，佩樂琳這種缺乏知識的表現“很丟臉”。
他說，“這真讓人感到悲哀。鑽研文學本該是一個文化部長的分內事，她怎麼能連一部莫迪亞諾的小說都沒讀過。真可悲，我們所處的時代根本沒把文化當回事。”
27日，《赫芬頓郵報》評論員克勞德·阿斯克洛維奇（Claude Askolovitch）認爲佩樂琳沒能及時瞭解法國文學成就是種“野蠻行徑”，他要求這名文化部長辭職。
佩樂琳連做點樣子假裝想去了解的態度都沒有，這更加讓阿斯克洛維奇惱火。他說，“她根本對莫迪亞諾沒有一丁點兒興趣。她可以假裝查閱一本書或者隻言片語，以便看上去好像知道莫迪亞諾其人。但是她連裝個樣子都不肯。”
現年42歲的佩樂琳於今年8月內閣改組後擔任文化部長一職。此前，她曾任旅遊及對外貿易部副部長，同時負責推進中小型企業發展創新及數字經濟的事務。
27日的法國新聞網站曾要求給這位超負荷工作的部長放假。
該網站在其社論中表示，“我們要對她的坦誠表示肯定。她告訴我們部長緊湊的日程安排沒能留出享受閱讀樂趣的時間。還好她沒有靠死記硬背作者介紹來欺騙我們。”
