‘Surdoué’ - a term that betrays French elitism?
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Contrary to popular belief, intelligence is relative. That is, at least, with regard to its measurement by the intelligence quotient test (in particular the WAIS), whose score makes it possible to compare individuals of the same age group with each other. Those who obtain a score above 130 are said to be “gifted”, which statistically represents a little more than 2% of the population. People with High Intellectual Potential (HIP) are thus a statistical singularity and represent a very small part of the population.
This measure of intelligence is nevertheless constantly being questioned. In an interview published in the French magazine Le Point(1), cognitive science researcher Nicolas Gauvrit refers to this as “a Western obsession” whereas “other cultures value emotional intelligence, mutual support, and other qualities much more”. He also reminds us that what we consider as ‘intelligence’ varies from one culture to another.
But rather than redefining intelligence here, let’s delve into linguistics and what people with high intellectual potential are called in different cultures. In France, those with IQs above 130 are referred to as “surdoués” (“gifted”). It’s important to note the use of the French prefix “sur” here, which expresses the idea of being “over-gifted” or “above-gifted”. It’s reminiscent of the reflexes of classification and hierarchy that are so dear to the French. They love to rank everything: hospitals, schools, and many more. Every year, the newspapers publish a series of rankings on the front page, listing the best clinics, the best preparatory schools…
I’m reminded of a childhood memory at school when the headmaster came in to hand out our books. The best pupils in the class were quickly relieved of the ordeal, while the last, or ‘dunces’ as they were called at the time, fell asleep before their names were called out. As I told this story to my son, I could see the time-space gap between us in his eyes, accompanied by a “But that’s horrible! It’s torture!” which made me realise just how much the world had changed in 30 years. Pedagogy has evolved and we now place greater importance on how a child is feeling and their characteristics.In France, some primary schools said goodbye to grades and rankings, knowledge is now acquired, partially acquired, or not acquired. In businesses, the hierarchy and privileges linked to diplomas and status are increasingly being questioned. The younger generations or "millenials" no longer blindly follow orders but discuss them, contribute to the debate, and leave the table if nobody is listening to them. The digital revolution has a lot to do with this; the cards have been reshuffled and we are increasingly flattening the hierarchy.
This is no longer the time for rankings, but for integrating individual specificities into an inclusive and collective logic.
We can therefore clearly feel the unease with the word SURdoué, which is hardly used by the people concerned because of the lack of humility it expresses. In France, you will rarely hear someone say “Bonjour, je m’appelle Stéphane, je suis surdoué”. Why? Imagine a man coming up to you and saying “Hello, I’m Stéphane, and I’m over intelligent”. Pretentious, isn’t it? If we add this to the French cultural tendency to rank everything as explained above, it’s easy to understand the dumbfounded reactions and the mistrust created by the term.
The Result: France is one of the countries in the world where people with High Intellectual Potential are the least visible and remain hidden.
These people often seek and use other terms to describe their difference and evoke their uniqueness. We speak of giftedness, high intellectual potential, multipotential, zebras, atypicals, philocognitives, singular talents. Any word can be used, providing it removes the prefix “SUR” from common expression.
In Brazil and Spain, a slightly less classifying variant is found in the term “superdotado”, meaning “super gifted”. Germany has different terms depending on the score that is achieved - “Hochbegabung” (highly gifted) for IQs above 130 and “Höchstbegabung” (exceptionally gifted) for IQs above 145.
There is, however, one constant among these few terms: the presence of the word “gift” or “gifted” which is found almost across the board. The only difference is that it’s completed differently depending on the culture. In English, “intellectually gifted” suggests one has received a gift, an intellectual gift. In Serbo-Croatian, the word “Darovit” is used, which means having received a gift. The Arabic term “mawhoub – موهبة” means “one who has received a gift”.
It’s interesting to note that in China, the gift “falls from the sky” since the word for gifted is made up of two ideograms that mean sky (天) and skill (才). The Japanese ideograms are the same as in Chinese, but the interpretation is slightly nuanced: (天) can refer to God or the absolute power of nature and (才) to talent. Here, the focus is not necessarily on trying to classify giftedness by relating it to the general population, but rather on making the observation of an unusual talent whose origin we are trying to define.
This linguistic approach, with its slight cultural differences, gives us a glimpse into how giftedness is perceived across the world through the words that express it.
It also provides an interesting insight into the way in which cultures perceive it, and perhaps, by extrapolation, into the way in which singular people are perceived locally by the rest of the population.
For my part, my experience has shown me that giftedness is better accepted and experienced in Anglo-Saxon countries than in France, where people find it difficult to talk about it freely. Many of them live their lives behind a mask.