The "Wallirony"

Belgium is a small country and the French-speaking community (Wallonia and Brussels) represent hardly half of its population, but it can still be divided into areas that have their own features and stereotypes... A Flemish geography teacher in Etterbeek (a commune of Brussels) wanted to teach his pupils what the French-speaking community looked like. He drew a map of Wallonia and divided it in three zones: Wallifornia, Wallabama and Wallbania. These names were portmanteaux of Wallonia and respectively California, Alabama and Albania. The negative connotation of the last one made a lot of Albanians living in Belgium angry. The clumsy parallel made between the country and the "poor" areas of Wallonia was quite unfortunate. Although I don't really agree with this division, I will talk about each of these fictive regions of the French-speaking community, mainly because this article focuses on stereotypes. 

Wallifornia is the "rich" part of the community. It mainly includes Brussels, the Walloon Brabant and Namur (the capital of Wallonia). The common cliché depicts the inhabitants as being pretentious rich guys who drive fancy cars and tend to speak in a fake French accent, especially in Uccle (a commune of Brussels).
The word was adopted sarcastically in "Pope of the Dope", an electro song by Party Harder and the Subs, in which the leader appeared in a Saint Nicholas costume saying obnoxious things to kids.

As a matter of fact, Brussels is a bit different from Wallonia and people living there do not identify as Walloons. The capital stuck in the middle of Flanders is a "melting pot", a mix of Flemish, Walloon and foreign cultures, being considered as the "center of Europe" (it has the highest rate of immigrants and the most given birthname is Mohamed!). Brussels is a busy place and a lot of Walloons have gone to Brussels to study or to work. Some of them decided they were here to stay and others still commute every day, creating giant trafic jams. In general, people from Brussels like to make fun of Walloons, because they think Wallonia is a boring place where nothing happens and where people speak in a funny accent. Both regions actually have their accent, but more and more people from Brussels tend to speak a more standard French.

Next, Wallabama represents the forested area of Wallonia, mainly the Belgian Ardennes. It includes most of the Belgian Luxembourg, a Belgian province not to be confused with the Grand Duchy (where some Belgians go to find a job and pay less taxes(!)) and the southern part of Liège province. It is the least populated areas in Belgium. A lot of Belgians see it as the countryside and the cliché is to consider people from that place as peasants... 

 

The Belgian Ardennes

Finally, Wallbania is considered to be the "poor" side of Wallonia, which used to be industrialized with a lot of miners coming from abroad. Now these places are struck by a high rate of unemployment, because some industries had to close shop. 

This includes most Hainaut province, including Charleroi and Mons. Charleroi is called the "black country", because the inhabitants were coal miners and came home covered in black, it is often seen as the most polluted place in Belgium. Mons is a part of Belgium in which the culture and dialect is close to that of the "North" in France (where they speak "Ch'ti", a Picard dialect). 

Also the city of Liège can be added to this area, as Arcelor Mittal factories closed recently, making a lot of people unemployed. This city and its province have a very recognizeable accent, which is different from the rest of Wallonia. People with that accent sound as if they had a cold, because they are unable to produce nasal vowels. A significant figure of this city is Michel Daerden, a Minister and mayor of Ans (a commune of the province), known for speaking relatively slowly and being constantly drunk, who gained popularity in Wallonia (they called him "Papa") before passing away last year.

These parts of Wallonia are known for having a lot of immigrants. It is interesting to see that a lot of Italian families, offspring of invited labours, still live in Belgium and represent the majority of immigrated populations in Wallonia, while the rate is much lower in Flanders. For instance, the current Belgian Prime Minister, Elio Di Rupo (recognizable by his red bowtie), immigrated from Italy as a kid. He is also the first Prime Minister to be publically out of the closet...

Elio Di Rupo

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