One of the obsessions of Patrick Buisson (1949-2023), a theorist in line with anti-Semitic writer Charles Maurras who served politicians on the right and far right as an advisor, was to impose his camp's rhetoric on the public debate in order to influence "sensibilities and temperaments." He saw this semantic conquest as necessary to construct "cultural hegemony," according to the concept developed by the Marxist philosopher Antonio Gramsci (1891-1937), and thereby compete with the left. One of Buisson's disciples, far-right politician Eric Zemmour, has often cited Lenin to underline the importance of words in political combat: "Make them accept the word, you'll make them accept the thing."

The far-right Rassemblement National (RN) party has always been removed from such considerations. But on Monday, January 27, it won a semantic battle despite itself. Invited to speak on the news channel LCI, Prime Minister François Bayrou used the term "submersion" to refer to immigration in France, believing that the country was "approaching" such a stage.

"From the moment you have the feeling of submersion, of no longer recognizing your country, no longer recognizing the way of life or the culture, from that instant, you get rejection," he said, adding that, beyond a certain "proportion" of foreigners, immigration was no longer a positive addition.

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