A case of kicking over those French traces

Events involving Eric Cantona in the past few weeks have encouraged considerable discussion in common rooms and even in classrooms. Is it possible to teach a course on French culture without the occasional reference to France's most famous enfant terrible?

It is not unusual for English footballers to find themselves in court for various reasons. So why is there so much interest in Cantona? One woman telephoned the BBC and explained that we should not be surprised by Cantona's alleged activities. "What do you expect," she said. "He's French." Fortunately not all French people act in the way Cantona was seen to do. But is it possible that the woman caller was making a more profound statement?

Cantona was brought up in France and was captain of the French national team, although his name (and I believe his background) is not French at all. However, having been brought up in France there is no doubt that he would have had access to a different culture from the one experienced by most English footballers.

What were these cultural influences? There can be no French child who has not, at some time, read the adventures of Tintin by Herge. In Flight 714 (London: Methuen, 1968) Professeur Tournesol gives an explanation and a demonstration familiar to anybody who saw Eric on television.

Cultural influences are powerful factors if they can produce such a reaction. How many English footballers would have gone in with their feet rather than their fists or their heads? In the Tintin example the professor boasts about his sporting achievements and refers to the savate. This is the name of the shoe which is worn by practitioners of French boxing, la boxe francaise, and it is now used to refer to the sport itself (The Robert Dictionary defines it as: "Combat ou l'on porte des coups de pied a l'adversaire (la boxe francaise)" (Combat where one kicks the adversary). While Balzac wrote: Elle lui donna dans les jambes ce coup sec si connu de ceux qui pratiquent l'art dit de la savate" (She kicked him in the legs with that sharp blow known to those who practise the so-called art of savate).

Not only can cultural influences explain Cantona's present predicament, they might also explain why, even in a normal game of football, he is sometimes seen kicking opponents when the ball is far away. If we were to substitute the picture of Cantona's head for that of the professor, would we not be reminded of the incident at Selhurst Park?

There is no doubt either that at some time during his education Cantona would have come across the Petit Larousse dictionary. In early editions (I quote from the 1938 edition) the illustration that accompanies the entry for boxing distinguishes French from English boxing by two out of 14 moves featuring kicks.

What conclusions can we draw from these examples? First, we have proved beyond doubt that the study of the culture of a country can alone explain the behaviour of its citizens. Second, I propose, that those who try to explain phenomena without reference to written texts are likely to make mistakes and to misunderstand. Third, that although Cantona is a wonderful footballer when there's a ball around, he is an equally gifted practitioner of French boxing when deprived of an orb. For future research I would propose that somebody should analyse the cultural past of footballers who, in the course of a season, accumulate large numbers of red and yellow cards. Does Vinny Jones have any French blood?

MALCOLM COOK

School of Modern Languages

University of Exeter