Orangism is the New Black (L'orangisme, la nouvelle Noirée) is a satirical short story by Victor Hugo. It is one of his later works written at the end of his life in his estate Saint Genevieve in French Louisiana and is often cited as the prime example of Hugo's 'American Period' when he was exiled by King Louis Napoleon for being too critical of the way the latter used the 1848 revolution (in Hugo's opinion: 'betrayed the revolution') to help himself to power.
In a mere twelve pages Hugo tells the story of Coraline, a quadroon born of a French nobleman who had to flee to the Louisiana Free State after the 1830's revolution brought king Louis Philippe to power and a woman shopowner of 'black ancestry'. Although slavery had already ended with the independence of La Louisiane in 1804, Coraline is still ostracized by Louisiana's upper class for her dark skin - even while her father as a French noble is highly revered.
When the young count Adalbert steals her heart, but then goes to propose to her father that he would take her as a paramour because his status would not allow him to officially marry any woman of color, and when her father actually seems amicable to the deal, Coraline's mother instead sends her away to France to look after their business interests there. In France in the meantime, king Louis Philippe has been replaced with Prince Louis Napoleon and in his wake a new breed of upper class has emerged. In this society, Coraline is well received and admired for her independence and business acumen. Paris' new nobility now regards her dark skin as 'exotic' and admires her Louisiana spunk and several men offer to help her in her business enterprises by giving her access to their business contacts. Coraline readily accepts all their introductions, but spurns all their 'good advice' and (in typical Hugo satire) by doing so becomes more successful than all of her backers combined. However at the height of her success, she again falls for a young Parisian noble, curiously also named Adalbert, and when the latter makes inquiries into her background, he finds out that her father had to flee France in 1830 because he backed the Duke of Orange over the 'Bourgeois King' Louis Philippe. Although Louis Philippe is now deposed, the 'orangists' are no friends of Louis Napoleon either and therefore again find themselves pushed out of the circles of power by the latter. Again ostracized, Coraline has no choice but to return to Louisiana because 'In this modern France, orangism is the new black and Orangists have less rights and less standing than the lowest black men in the colonies"
In a twist of fate however, while Coraline was in Paris, a new breed of political refugees, former backers of the 'bourgeois' Louis Philippe started to settle in Louisiana and again changed the culture of the Free State. So when Coraline returned, she was now a rich businesswoman instead of simply a quadroon. Soon many of the new nobility there expressed interest both in Coraline as in her fortune. Seeing his chances slip, Coraline's old beau Adalbert now proposes to her... only to be rebuked.
The story is remarkable in its contrast of the lyric, almost tender description of the nature of Louisiana and the loving portrayal of the people of Saint Louis de la Mississippi versus the biting and ascerbic portrayal of the French high-society under Louis Napoleon. Therefore it is often reprinted, even today, in French school textbooks as a typical example of Hugo's later years and if not one of Hugo's most famous works, it has certainly become the one story of him that is most known and -more important- most often read and quoted from.
Next up:
I am the walrus
In a mere twelve pages Hugo tells the story of Coraline, a quadroon born of a French nobleman who had to flee to the Louisiana Free State after the 1830's revolution brought king Louis Philippe to power and a woman shopowner of 'black ancestry'. Although slavery had already ended with the independence of La Louisiane in 1804, Coraline is still ostracized by Louisiana's upper class for her dark skin - even while her father as a French noble is highly revered.
When the young count Adalbert steals her heart, but then goes to propose to her father that he would take her as a paramour because his status would not allow him to officially marry any woman of color, and when her father actually seems amicable to the deal, Coraline's mother instead sends her away to France to look after their business interests there. In France in the meantime, king Louis Philippe has been replaced with Prince Louis Napoleon and in his wake a new breed of upper class has emerged. In this society, Coraline is well received and admired for her independence and business acumen. Paris' new nobility now regards her dark skin as 'exotic' and admires her Louisiana spunk and several men offer to help her in her business enterprises by giving her access to their business contacts. Coraline readily accepts all their introductions, but spurns all their 'good advice' and (in typical Hugo satire) by doing so becomes more successful than all of her backers combined. However at the height of her success, she again falls for a young Parisian noble, curiously also named Adalbert, and when the latter makes inquiries into her background, he finds out that her father had to flee France in 1830 because he backed the Duke of Orange over the 'Bourgeois King' Louis Philippe. Although Louis Philippe is now deposed, the 'orangists' are no friends of Louis Napoleon either and therefore again find themselves pushed out of the circles of power by the latter. Again ostracized, Coraline has no choice but to return to Louisiana because 'In this modern France, orangism is the new black and Orangists have less rights and less standing than the lowest black men in the colonies"
In a twist of fate however, while Coraline was in Paris, a new breed of political refugees, former backers of the 'bourgeois' Louis Philippe started to settle in Louisiana and again changed the culture of the Free State. So when Coraline returned, she was now a rich businesswoman instead of simply a quadroon. Soon many of the new nobility there expressed interest both in Coraline as in her fortune. Seeing his chances slip, Coraline's old beau Adalbert now proposes to her... only to be rebuked.
The story is remarkable in its contrast of the lyric, almost tender description of the nature of Louisiana and the loving portrayal of the people of Saint Louis de la Mississippi versus the biting and ascerbic portrayal of the French high-society under Louis Napoleon. Therefore it is often reprinted, even today, in French school textbooks as a typical example of Hugo's later years and if not one of Hugo's most famous works, it has certainly become the one story of him that is most known and -more important- most often read and quoted from.
Next up:
I am the walrus
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