Anatomy of Hatred:

Une petite ville en France, by Françoise Gaspard. (Paris: Gallimard, 1990.)

Book review by Rob Couteau

 

 

 

Published in:
The European: Europe's
First National Newspaper
,
élan section, Jan. 4-6, 1991 (London)


Gaspard investigates the changing face of Dreux–a town now known as a stronghold of France’s extremist Le Pen faction. The author (who is a former mayor of Dreux) traces its history from the distant past to today, pointing out that jobs, public housing, and educational facilities have become scarcer as the immigrant population has increased, creating fertile conditions for the race-baiting followers of Le Pen. He draws historical parallels between present-day Dreux and the socio-economic conditions of a typical town in prewar National Socialist Germany. Packed with facts and statistics, this study is a worthy attempt to shed light on the conditions that lie behind the growing racial tensions in France.


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Updated: 4 September 2011 | All text Copyright © 2011 | Rob Couteau | key words: Une petite ville en France by Francoise Gaspard French racism xenophobia chauvanism nationalism Arabs in France The European newspaper National Front Le Pen literature book reviews of novels and psychology literary art by Rob Couteau expatriate writers in Paris