{"id":5016,"date":"2011-04-07T12:52:08","date_gmt":"2011-04-07T16:52:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/?p=5016"},"modified":"2017-10-19T13:27:13","modified_gmt":"2017-10-19T11:27:13","slug":"leche-vitrine-window-shopping-with-voltaire-a-dangerously-zadig-stic-addiction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/leche-vitrine-window-shopping-with-voltaire-a-dangerously-zadig-stic-addiction\/","title":{"rendered":"Window-shopping with Voltaire: A Dangerous Addiction"},"content":{"rendered":"
“Tous les jours, je lave mon cerveau avec la pub<\/em>” (“Everyday I wash my brain with advertisings”)<\/strong><\/div>\n
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While it is not as widely renowned as “Candide<\/strong><\/em>“, the novel “Zadig ou la Destin\u00e9e<\/strong><\/em><\/strong>” (“Zadig, or The Book of Fate”) stands today as one of the major works of Voltaire,<\/strong> although, we are told, the French philosopher may have opportunistically discarded its value and significance\u00a0vers la fin de sa vie<\/em><\/strong> (towards the end of his life)—“Age of the Enligntenment”\u00a0oblige<\/strong><\/em>!<\/strong><\/div>\n
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The namesake of the novel, “Zadig<\/strong><\/em><\/span>“, <\/strong>presented as Babylonian by the author who otherwise makes no pretense to historical insight, means in Arabic “v\u00e9<\/strong><\/em><\/strong>ridique” <\/strong><\/em>(“truthful”), as in the name of the faithful companion in Islam,\u00a0Abu Bakr “Es-Siddiq<\/em><\/span><\/strong>“, and, quite similarly, means “le juste” <\/strong><\/em>(the just) in Hebrew, as in “Tsadik<\/strong><\/em><\/span>“, the religious title related to the Hassidic tradtion.<\/div>\n
In fact, and it is a rather curious fact that only a few “critiques litt\u00e9raires<\/em><\/em>” <\/strong>seem to have noticed that before<\/a>, the tale of Voltaire’s hero makes several thinly-veiled allusions to the well-known story of Mo\u00efse (<\/strong>Moses)<\/strong> and El-Khidr<\/strong>, mentioned in le Coran<\/em><\/strong>,\u00a0the Holy Book of Islam.<\/div>\n
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True to his name, Zadig is truthful, brave, compassionate, and stands for justice whatever contr\u00e9es lointaines <\/em><\/strong>(far-off lands)\u00a0his destin <\/em><\/strong>(destiny, or fate) leads him to—In short, a diametric opposite of a “Zadig-stic<\/em><\/strong>” (read “sadistic”) behavior, you may say.But, if that is the case, what justifies le<\/strong><\/em> jeu de mot<\/em><\/strong> (the pun) in the title of today’s post?<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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A simple look around the world we live in today, ceaselessly “bombarded” by des pubs<\/em><\/strong> (ads) that “urge” our brave citizenry to buy such and such glorified\u00a0produit <\/em><\/strong>(product), could serve to remind us of what the authoritative\u00a0Edward Bernays<\/strong> -considered the “forefather” of the field of les relations publiques<\/em><\/strong>, <\/em>(PR)<\/strong>,<\/em>and accessorily neveu<\/a> <\/em><\/strong>(nephew) of Dr. Sigmund Freud<\/strong>–\u00a0\u00a0wrote in his “seminal work”, “Propaganda<\/strong>“, several years before the emergence of la t\u00e9<\/strong><\/em><\/strong><\/strong><\/em>l\u00e9<\/strong><\/em><\/strong><\/strong><\/em>vision<\/strong><\/em> and\u00a0l’Internet<\/strong><\/em>:<\/div>\n
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\"[Our] minds are molded, our tastes formed,<\/strong><\/pre>\n
our ideas suggested,\u00a0largely by men we have never heard of.\u00a0<\/strong><\/pre>\n
This is a logical result of the way in which our democratic\u00a0<\/strong><\/pre>\n
society is organized.\" \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0<\/strong><\/pre>\n
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In these conditions, there is little wonder that some of us, more “sensible”<\/em><\/strong> (“sensitive”), and perhaps more “obedient” by nature, to this type of psychological treatment or “conditioning” of the masses, would tend to confuse, say, faire du shopping <\/strong><\/em>(doing shopping) with… la philosophie <\/em><\/strong>(philosophy)!<\/strong><\/div>\n
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