Parvenu
A parvenu is a person who is a relative newcomer to a high-ranking socioeconomic class. The word is borrowed from the French language; it is the past participle of the verb parvenir (to reach, to arrive, to manage to do something).
The Oxford English Dictionary defines a parvenu as: "A person from a humble background who has rapidly gained wealth or an influential social position; a nouveau riche; an upstart, a social climber. Also in extended use. Generally used with the implication that the person concerned is unsuited to the new social position, esp. through lacking the necessary manners or accomplishments."
The term designates individuals not socially accepted by individuals already established in their new class. It expresses a form of classism.
A social climber is a derogatory term that denotes someone who seeks social prominence through aggressive, fawning, or obsequious behavior.[1] The term is sometimes used as synonymous with parvenu,[2] and may be used as an insult, suggesting a poor work ethic or disloyalty to roots. Another synonym, with negative connotations, is arriviste.[3]
Examples
Royalty
Established royal families of Europe regarded the Bonaparte family as parvenu royalty. Napoleon III tried to marry into Swedish and German royalty, but was unsuccessful because he was a parvenu. For instance, his plan to marry Anna Pavlovna, one of the sisters of the Emperor Alexander, did not push through because the Empress Mother objected to the union on account of Napoleon's status as a parvenu.[4] The reason given for the misalliance was difference of religion.[4]
This was also said to be the case with the marriage of Egyptian Princess Fawzia to the future Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. One of the reasons speculated for their divorce is that Fawzia's family, including King Farouk I, viewed the Pahlavis as parvenus. Though the Muhammad Ali dynasty of Egypt and Sudan, to which Fawzia belonged, had humble beginnings, it had solidified its status in Egypt and the Arab World since 1805. In contrast, the Pahlavis were a far more recent dynasty, owing their position entirely to the coup d'état of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi's father, Reza Khan, in 1921.
In France
In the 19th century, the French aristocracy viewed Jewish women who converted to Christianity upon marriage as parvenus.[5] Professor Catherine Nicault of the University of Reims Champagne-Ardenne has argued that this exemplified the way in which the French aristocracy was hostile toward Jews.[5]
In popular culture
- Vanity Fair's Becky Sharp is considered an archetype of the social climber, having flirted her way up the British upper class. The character was not born to affluence or the aristocracy, but climbed the social ladder through opportunism and her personal ambition.[6]
- In the novel Enigma Otiliei by Romanian writer George Călinescu, Stănică Rațiu represents the newly rich. He obtains his wealth by stealing money from a rich old man and by marrying into the elite.
- In the novel The Great Gatsby, Gatsby represents the newly rich. He obtains his wealth through bootlegging, spends it lavishly, and struggles to gain the acceptance of older money.
- In the novel The Red and the Black, the provincial protagonist Julien Sorel thinks of himself as a parvenu after establishing himself in the service of the Marquis de la Mole.
- In The Cherry Orchard, Gayev regards Lophakhin as a parvenu, as many critics interpret his remarks.
- Pip, from Dickens's Great Expectations, would be considered a parvenu by many.
- Edmond Dantès as The Count of Monte Cristo in Alexandre Dumas' work.
- John and Alisoun in "The Miller's Tale" by Geoffrey Chaucer.
- فرانكلين في " حكاية فرانكلين " لجيفري تشوسر.
- السيدة بينيت ، وعائلة بينجلي ، في رواية جين أوستن "كبرياء وهوى" .
- فيليب إلتون في رواية جين أوستن " إيما" .
- جين ويلسون في رواية آن برونتي " ساكنة قاعة وايلدفيل" .
- باري ليندون، بطل رواية " حظ باري ليندون" للكاتب ويليام ميكبيس ثاكيراي .
- تحكي قصة "العقد" لغي دو موباسان حكاية مدام ماتيلد لويزل وزوجها. لطالما تخيلت ماتيلد نفسها في مكانة اجتماعية مرموقة تمتلك مجوهرات رائعة. إلا أنها لا تملك شيئاً، فتتزوج من موظف بسيط يتقاضى أجراً زهيداً، ويبذل قصارى جهده لإسعادها.
- " ويليام ويلسون "، قصة قصيرة لإدغار آلان بو.
انظر أيضاً
مراجع
- ↑ وير، روبرت إي. (2007). الطبقة في أمريكا: موسوعة [3 مجلدات]: موسوعة . ويستبورت، كونيتيكت: مجموعة غرينوود للنشر. ص 789. ISBN 9780313337192.
- ↑ "مرادفات كلمة Parvenu" . قاموس كولينز الإنجليزي . هاربر كولينز . تم الاطلاع عليه بتاريخ 4 يونيو 2026 .
- ↑ أريفست ، ميريام وبستر
- 1 2 ماكفارلين، تشارلز؛ هاويس، هيو ريجينالد (1880). حياة نابليون بونابرت . نيويورك: جورج روتليدج وأولاده. ص 280.
- 1 2 نيكولت، كاثرين (2009). "Comment " en être " ? Les Juifs et la Haute Société dans la Seconde moitié du xixe siècle " . أرشيف الشباب . 1 (42): 8– 32. دوى : 10.3917/aj.421.0008 . تم الاسترجاع 7 يونيو، 2016 – عبر Cairn.info .
- ↑ هيفلفينجر، إليزابيث؛ رايت، لورا (2011). الاختلاف البصري: دراسات ما بعد الاستعمار والسينما بين الثقافات . نيويورك: بيتر لانغ. ص 136. ISBN 9781433105951.
- عبارات مسيئة تتعلق بالطبقة الاجتماعية
- الطبقات الاجتماعية
- الحراك الاجتماعي والاقتصادي
- ثقافة الطبقة العليا