法國“帝王式”總統

Emmanuel Macron’s decision to open up Louis XIV’s palace in Versailles for Russia’s Vladimir Putin at the end of May made perfect sense for the newly elected French leader who once defined his future presidential style as “Jupiterian”.

今年5月底，埃馬紐埃爾?馬克龍(Emmanuel Macron)爲俄羅斯的弗拉基米爾?普京(Vladimir Putin)打開了路易十四(Louis XIV)的凡爾賽宮，這一決定對這位曾將自己未來總統風格定義爲“朱庇特式”的法國新領導人來說是完全合理的。

As a matter of fact, the Hall of Mirrors features a painting by Charles Le Brun depicting Louis the Great holding thunder, the symbol of the king of the Roman gods, French historian Jo?l Cornette tells me. There are further similarities. It looks very much, Mr Cornette observes, as though the president — who has hailed Charles de Gaulle and Fran?ois Mitterrand as model “republican monarchs” — has carefully studied the Sun King.

法國曆史學家喬爾?科爾內特(Jo?l Cornette)告訴我，實際上，凡爾賽宮的中央畫廊“鏡廳”(Galerie des Glaces)有一幅查爾斯?勒布倫(Charles Le Brun)的畫作，描繪了手持雷杵——羅馬衆神之王的象徵——的路易大帝。科爾內特認爲，曾盛讚查爾斯?戴高樂(Charles de Gaulle)和弗朗索瓦?密特朗(Fran?ois Mitterrand)是“共和君主”典範的這位新總統，看來認真研究過“太陽王”(le Roi Soleil)。

“President Macron seems keen to look impenetrable, distant, sovereign — the trademark of Louis XIV,” he says. Like the absolute monarch, who was the first king to take communication seriously (with Jean-Baptiste Colbert as France’s first communication, or propaganda, adviser), Mr Macron appears intent on carefully crafting his image.

他說：“馬克龍總統似乎渴望被看做高深莫測、遙不可及、至高無上——這些都是路易十四的特點。”路易十四也是第一位重視溝通的君主，他委任了讓-巴普蒂斯特?柯爾貝爾(Jean-Baptiste Colbert)擔任法國第一任溝通顧問，或者說宣傳顧問。像這位專制君主一樣，馬克龍似乎有意精心打造自己的形象。

I have witnessed the rapid transformation of a rookie politician into a national leader with some of the strongest executive powers in any western democracy and, after the first round of voting in the legislative elections, a likely crushing parliamentary majority. As economy minister when I first met him, Mr Macron was casual in his dealings with the press — often ready for an improvised interview, a straight-talker happy to make the headlines with a catchy sentence. As a candidate he became less accessible as he sought to look more presidential, but his mischievous self would emerge occasionally — as when he winked at me from his car after visiting an eyeware manufacturer near Paris. When it made sense to show empathy, he seemed to relish it. In Amiens, he debated with angry Whirlpool workers for nearly an hour. In a poor Parisian banlieue, he cuddled children and played football.

我見證了一位政壇新秀迅速變成一國之首，掌握西方民主國家中一些最強大的行政權力，而且——在立法選舉第一輪投票後——很可能獲得議會絕對多數席位。我第一次見到馬克龍時，擔任經濟部長的他與媒體打交道很隨便，往往願意接受臨時採訪，講話直言不諱，喜歡用引人注意的語句登上頭條新聞。作爲一名候選人的馬克龍變得沒那麼平易近人，他試圖表現得更像總統，但偶爾會流露出調皮的本性——在參觀了巴黎附近一家眼鏡製造商後，他從車上向我眨了眨眼。當表現出同理心具有意義時，他似乎樂於這麼做。在北方城市亞眠(Amiens)，他曾與憤怒的惠而浦(Whirlpool)工人辯論近一個小時。在巴黎一個貧困郊區，他擁抱孩子們，和他們一起踢足球。

Since becoming president, Mr Macron has retreated to Mount Olympus. Access for the press has been restricted, ministers have been instructed not to leak to the press, and the use of Twitter to spread official videos and messages has been amplified. Determined looks under a layer of make-up have replaced mobile facial expressions; pressed lips have chased the toothy smiles away. On the night of his election, Mr Macron walked alone impossibly slowly in semi-darkness for what felt like an eternity. On inauguration day, he rode on the Champs Elysée aboard a military vehicle. The Duke of Saint-Simon, who provided some of the most complete accounts of Louis XIV’s reign, could have been describing the French president when he remarked the monarch was “master of his face, posture and exterior appearance”.

成爲總統後，馬克龍退守到了奧林匹斯山上。媒體被限制訪問，部長們被指示不得向媒體透露消息，使用Twitter傳播官方視頻和消息的做法被放大。一層妝容下的堅毅神情取代了生動的面部表情；緊抿的雙脣驅散了露齒微笑。當選那天晚上，馬克龍在半明半暗中獨自緩緩而行，讓人感覺沒完沒了。就職典禮當日，他站在一輛軍用車上駛過香榭麗舍大街。聖西蒙公爵(Duke of Saint)對路易十四統治時期作出了一些最完整的描述，他稱這位君主是“其面容、姿勢和外表的主人”，這話用在法國新總統身上也很貼切。

The 39-year-old French leader is seeking to revive the presidency after Socialist president Fran?ois Hollande — who campaigned on being just a “normal” guy and loved off-the-record chats with journalists — and Nicolas Sarkozy, whose blunt manners and hyperactive style ended up irking a large number of French voters.

在法國人經歷了以“普通人”形象競選，喜歡與記者非正式聊天的社會黨總統弗朗索瓦?奧朗德(Fran?ois Hollande)，以及唐突的舉止和異常活躍的風格最終令大批法國選民感到厭倦的尼古拉?薩科齊(Nicolas Sarkozy)之後，這位39歲的法國領導人正尋求重振總統威望。

“Despite beheading their king, the French haven’t really parted with the symbols of monarchy, they have remained attached to the idea of a powerful figure embodying authority,” Prof Cornette says. “Sarkozy and Hollande didn’t get it. They de-sacralised the institution.”

科爾內特教授表示：“法國人雖然砍掉了國王的腦袋，但他們並沒有真正地捨棄君主制的象徵，他們仍有個執念：一個體現權威的強勢人物。薩科齊和奧朗德都沒明白這一點。他們讓這個機構失去了神聖色彩。”

Even though his “Jupiterian” style needs perfecting (he was caught on camera making a distasteful joke about Comoran migrants recently), and even though it highlights contempt for the press, Mr Macron does get it. The French do not want a “normal” president, Mr Macron told weekly magazine Challenges in October. “On the contrary, such a concept destabilises them, it makes them feel insecure.” Leaders ought to refuse to be dictated by the news and they should have an ability “to enlighten, to know, to spell out a meaning and a direction anchored in French history”, he added.

儘管馬克龍的“朱庇特”風格仍需要完善（最近他被攝影機拍到講了一個關於科摩羅移民的令人反感的笑話），儘管這突顯對新聞界的蔑視，但馬克龍確實明白這一點。去年10月馬克龍告訴《挑戰》(Challenges)期刊，法國人不想要一個“普通人”總統。“相反，這樣一個概念會擾動他們的安寧，讓他們感到不安全。”當時他還表示，領導者應該拒絕被新聞擺佈，而應該有能力“去啓蒙、去了解、去講清楚一個根植於法國曆史的意義和方向。”

These comments echoed Louis XIV’s instructions in 1700 to his grandson, King of Spain Philip V, Prof Cornette points out. “Don’t let anyone govern you, be the master, never have any favourite, nor a prime minister,” the Roi-Soleil wrote. “Take advice but always decide.”

科爾內特教授指出，這些話與路易十四在1700年對他的孫子、西班牙國王腓力五世(Philip V)的教導如出一轍。這位太陽王寫道：“不要讓任何人支配你，要做頭，永遠不要有任何偏袒，也不要任命總理。聽取建議，但永遠作出自己的決策。”