Seventeenth Global Studies Conference

Abstract

France’s most prestigious memorial institution, The Pantheon, has opened its doors to great men and women at a frequency higher than usual under President Macron. While other presidents have left their mark through the museums and monuments built during their presidency, Emmanuel Macron has dedicated himself to the building/re-building of the image of the French Republic by offering the Pantheon as a resting place to Simone Veil, Josephine Baker and more recently, Missak Manouchian. While Macron’s speeches during the ceremonies at the Pantheon are targeting citizens of France, they are also aiming to build/ restore the image of France for the global world. As a specialist of literature and sociology of culture, I study the speech delivered by Macron for the Pantheonization of Josephine Baker, who “migrated” to France from the United States, in an attempt to identify its various targeted audiences, within France and globally.