We now know the face of the new Prime Minister … and also his voice. On July 3, 2020, Emmanuel Macron announced the name of the one who would succeed Edouard Philippe: the mayor of Prades, Jean Castex. The former Prime Minister, the wind in its sails, therefore returns to the town hall of Le Havre for his greatest happiness. However, a detail came to disturb the celebrations for the new face of the Elysée. In fact, during its first official appearance on the news TF1 on the evening of his election, viewers noticed a small detail that did not leave them indifferent. If some Internet users have shown benevolence in teasing the singing accent of the new Prime Minister, others have not hesitated to kick him out on social networks.
"Jean Castex, he has the same accent as Maïté"
"On the other hand, Jean Castex's accent is warm", "Jean Castex still has a sacred southern accent. And that is disruptive for a Prime Minister", "His rocky accent like 3rd half of rugby", or "Did you hear Jean Castex's accent? It's terrible!", can we read on Twitter in recent days. So many negative comments that result from discrimination called the "glottophobia".
Invented in the 1990s, the term is put back on the agenda by the sociolinguist Philippe Blanchet in his book Discrimination: combating glottophobia, published in 2016. According to him, glottophobia is defined as "contempt, hatred, aggression, rejection, exclusion, people who consider incorrect, inferior, bad, certain linguistic forms used by these people. " In other words, any fantasy in the way of expressing oneself, whether related to a regional accent or a tic of language, can give rise to a form of glottophobia. The most recent example goes back to the mockery of Jean-Luc Mélenchon faced with the Toulouse accent of a journalist in October 2018.
Read also : Edouard Philippe, surprised on a motorway service, like a simple vacationer