Abdelhafid Azouz’s Guide anti-langue de bois (anti-political cant guidebook): political humour with all its splendour

Here is a book which will (may) cause headache to those who have a responsibility because everyone, historians, politics men (and women), economists, heads of company, etc, are involved.

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• Actually, the writer presents, with humour and blistering spirit, an amusing anthology of terms and expressions (the most current ones) relating to the political cant.  
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• With the ‘le Guide Anti-Langue de Bois!’ (anti-political cant guidebook), we walk through a parallel world (linguistic) in which “we gear up” instead of taking out a loan, where we “complicate” instead of simplify, where we “down tools” instead of going on strike, where we “compete” instead of being jealous. The author’s second degree definitions set the tone, let’s judge it: Our patience has limits! “Baseless statement”: You lie! “Missing people”: Future dead people.
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• In an interesting foreword, Abdelhafid Azouz explains generally the reasons behind the profusion of the political cant, “boring and annoying for the reader or the interlocutor, the political cant is very useful though. What would diplomacy be without the political cant? We need to find “soft” forms to not “hurt sensitivity.”
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• Abdelhafid Azouz to Echorouk:
• “French language suits well the political cant”
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• The character in your book cover looks like Nicolas Sarkozy. Is it your idea?
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• You think so? (laugh). Honestly, this is not my idea. This illustration, like any other ones, was done by my friend Salim Ferroukhi. I asked him to make illustrations but I did not want to influence him in his work. It is true that a lot of people found that the character in the cover looks like the French president. As far as I am concerned, I do not think so.
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• Your first book was about the spoken language in Algeria while the second one deals with the political cant. Those two books speak about France and Algeria.
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• That’s right. France is an official member and initiator of the Francophonie while Algeria is present in this organisation as an observer. I think that the two countries have not managed yet to get rid of the past burden. I would like to mention two authors who could summarise the relationship, not between France and Algeria but between French language and Algeria. They are Albert Camus and Kateb Yacine. The first one said: “My homeland is French language”. Kateb Yacine said: “French should be taken as war booty.” I believe that the two sentences are still topical.
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• If you had to summarise the relationship between French and Algeria, what would have your sentence been?
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• It would have been: “I love you… me neither!”, and it is not political cant!
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• Let’s talk about your second book. In few words, how would you present it?
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• Actually, I tried to dissect the political cant. Because of that, I had to watch many political and economic programs on the radio and TV. I also read a lot the Algerian and French newspapers to take some expressions. I chose these two countries because they are the biggest French-speaking countries in the world. I could not write this book in another language. Though I do not speak any other languages (except Arabic and a little bit of English), something tells me that French language suits well the political cant. It is not pejorative. It shows that French is a rich language. Any way, my book includes 470 terms and expressions. Yet, I could have been put 1,000 in it. Let’s say I chose the most pertinent ones. It is divided into three parts: Politics, Socio-economics and Advertisement. For this last one, I took the different advertisement slogans to sell products because I believe that they are part of the political cant. Any way, it has something to do with all set phrases. If they are commonly taken, they become hackneyed, predictable, tedious, comical not to say unexpected.
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• You say so bad things about the political cant that we have the impression that you are traumatised by it! Do you think that the use of the political cant must be so condemnable?
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• No, not at all. You know, it is a language which does not have defects only but it has many virtues (I say it without political cant). In the foreword, I say it also enables to avoid major crisis situations. This is the reason why it is taught in the National School of Administration (in France).
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• What do you think is the category of people who have the best command of the political cant and what is the antidote to this language?
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• Generally speaking, politicians and diplomats are well inspired. Otherwise, the antidote is the “Les Guignols de l’Info » (News Puppets). Ah, if politicians could speak so crudely like their puppets! I believe that they would have been more credible! (laugh).
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• What are your projects? Where would you like to be today?
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• On stage. I would love to work on stage. At present, I am expected to release tome 2 of the ‘Guide Anti-Langue de Bois!’ I also started writing a historical novel.