Why do I need to know No pasarán?
Because you might see this slogan on French protest signs, and it’s also the title of a new rap song.
What does it mean?
No pasarán – roughly pronounced no pah-sah-ran – is Spanish and translates as ‘they shall not pass’. It is widely known as a rallying cry for anti-fascist activists and resistance fighters.
In France, it has a long history of being used in opposition to far-right movements and politics.
Most people would be familiar with no pasarán from its usage during the Spanish Civil War by members of the Communist party, including Dolorès Ibarruri, and those opposing General Franco’s nationalists.
The Spanish painter Ramón Puyol Román notably put the expression on posters to galvanise the republicans during the war.
Affiche de Ramón Puyol Román durant la guerre d’Espagne. pic.twitter.com/rLg8DpELID
— Philippe Perez (@PhilippePerez68) June 24, 2024
But the expression itself may be originally French, dating back to WWI, during the Battle of Verdun when the French general General Robert Nivelle used the slogan Ils ne passeront pas ! (They shall not pass!).
Later, in the 1930s, Léon Blum, the French left-wing prime minister during the original ‘Front Populaire’, said Ils ne passeront pas ! when responding to nationalist protesters.
Over the years, it has been used in various anti-fascist contexts across the world, but most recently French people have employed it in protests against the far-right ahead of the 2024 parliamentary elections.
It is also in the zeitgeist due to the popular rap – NO PASARÁN – song released by a collection of 20 French rappers as a protest against the far-right Rassemblement National. Despite the title the phrase no pasarán is not actually used in the song (below) which will definitely give your colloquial French a good workout.
Use it like this
Sur sa pancarte, on pouvait lire “No pasaràn” et il encourageait les gens à voter pour le Nouveau Front Populaire. – His protest sign read ‘They shall not pass’ and he encouraged people to vote for the Nouveau Front Populaire.
Cherchant à galvaniser la manifestation de gauche, le politicien a crié “No Pasaràn !” – Seeking to galvanise the left-wing protesters, the politician yelled ‘They shall not pass!’
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