Wokism, with or without cream?

Every time I hear the word «wokism», it makes me hungry. Everyone puts their imagination to it and puts what they feel like in it, according to the inspiration of the moment. carbonarawe add whatever we can get our hands on, but rarely the good stuff; lardons or ham in place of guanciale, cream and parmesan cheese instead of the traditional pecorino. The carbonara has become a catch-all recipe. Just like wokism.

We use this term to attach to it whatever we want to criticize, without any common logic. Inclusive writing? A university lecture interrupted by militants? Books passed under the correction of sensitivity readers? An art gallery censoring its own exhibition out of feminism? There's no need to struggle to put it all into perspective, we'll just lump it all together under the banner of wokism and go on a crusade! Alex Mahoudeau, author of Panic woke, explains it very well: «It's a definition that's hollowed out, woke is defined by the people who talk about it». At the end of the day, the only difference between a bad carbonara and wokism is the length of the noodles.

Write to the author: quentin.perissinotto@leregardlibre.com

You've just read a mood piece from our WOKISME folder, published in our print edition (Le Regard Libre N°95).