This article (in French) is written by Franck Orban and is published in 2016 by Waxmann in Language and Nation: Crossroads and Connections (Guri Ellen Barstad, Arnstein Hjelde, Sigmund Kvam, Anastasia Parianou, John Todd, ed). The book can be ordered from this website:
Abstract
This chapter deals with a minority within the leadership of French far right party National Front who want to frame NF as the sole holder of the Gaullist tradition. We first take a look back at the paradoxical relationship between French far right and more specifically National Front and Gaullism. The idea of any ideological convergence between Gaullism and far right extremists has never been obvious. However, some elements in Gaullism can suggest that rather two different political families share some values. This chapter then looks at the evolution of NF since the early 1970’until now to determine to what extend NF’s current narratives fit better into the main political system and have become a viable tool for political achievement. This chapter concludes with the idea that in order to win future presidential elections in France, Nation Front could indeed be tempted to merge Gaullism and Frontism into a new hybrid ideology, Lepeno-Gaullism, or eventually Marino-Lepenism.