This is his first Avignon-sur-scène as an actor and playwright. For several years, Clément Viktorovitch has established himself as a key figure in the analysis of political discourse. His accessible approach allows him to decipher argumentative strategies, shedding light on the issues and the driving forces of public debates.
In the surprising play he presents in the Off, the doctor of political science Clément Viktorovitch plays the communications advisor to the President of the Republic who, after being ousted, seeks revenge… Meeting with a man happy to be on stage but worried about the turn of national events.
How can we analyze the speech of certain candidates whose speech seems to have been “cleaned up” to please the greatest number?
Taking a step back, what seems to me to mark the contemporary political debate is really the era of post-truth. There is an indifference to the truth that has taken hold among both voters and political leaders. As we have seen, the National Rally has made speeches marked by a change of position to the point where it was becoming difficult to find one’s way around, we have seen Jordan Bardella being put in difficulty on factual questions but that did not prevent voters from voting for him. The same remark can be made about the Macronist camp, which has not hesitated to use untruths, particularly with regard to Raphaël Glucksmann. We are thinking, among other things, of the sentence in Valérie Hayer’s campaign video, where she says: “We are the only pro-European movement” when it is totally false. There is therefore a form of indifference to the truth. This is precisely what is being said in the show. We tell the story of political communication that is tipping into post-truth, into the use of completely false words, even if everyone knows they are false. This is not a French specificity, it is very reminiscent of what happened in the United States with Trump, in Brazil with Bolsonaro and in England at the time of Brexit.
Do you think that the accessibility of a mass mode of expression like social networks, coupled with hyper-popularization, has caused these converging situations?
Social networks play a major role in all this. Beyond that, it is the massification of information and the multiplication of channels that are at fault. It has become impossible to follow everything. As citizens, we are in a situation of constant cognitive saturation. Previously, if we wanted to follow the news, we watched the 8pm news and went into more detail with the written press. Today, it has become impossible to follow. But we must not demonize social networks, they are also a mode of democratic communication. They allow everyone to have access to public discourse. But we are overwhelmed by too much information. And when we are saturated, it is also the moment when we have difficulty putting this information at a distance and having a critical point of view. Even something aberrant will pass. We have become porous to information precisely because it is multiplied.
Thanks to algorithms, we are presented with information that is in line with our values, so it is easier to make us believe what we are told…
There are indeed several possible cognitive biases, including confirmation bias. If we see something that seems to resonate with what we already think, we will tend to think that this thing is true simply because it suits us. But exposing ourselves to something that outrages us will also reinforce what we thought, and it comes down to exactly the same thing. We are in a paradox, which is that the public space has never been as contradictory as it is today. We can no longer say anything without being immediately contradicted. All we have to do is say “hello” on Twitter (X, SIC) to hear “oh really? because for me, he’s pretty bad” and at the same time this contradiction no longer has any importance in politics since voters are locked in a filter bubble that excludes contradiction and will only echo the candidate’s words. Today, it is possible to say anything without having to pay the price.
“The Art of Not Saying” at La Factory, Tomasi Room, 4 rue Bertrand, until July 21 at 7:05 p.m. Admission: €17-25
