344 posts tagged with french.
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English as she was Spoke
In 1586, Jacques Bellot published one of the earliest printed phrasebooks for refugees, the Familiar Dialogues: For the Instruction of The[m], That Be Desirous to Learne to Speake English, and Perfectlye to Pronou[n]ce the Same. [...] The book, in 16mo, is laid out in three parallel columns: English, French, and a quasi-phonetic transcription of the sounds of the English text. [...] Bellot says “I have written the English not onely so as the inhibaters of the country do write it: But also, as it is, and must be pronoun[n]ced”. [...] While men had contact with the local community through their work and would have developed enough spoken English to get by, their wives and other family members who were mostly at home had limited opportunities to learn the local language. At this time, there was significant local hostility to foreigners in England, and [...] “a knowledge of everyday English was some protection against mindless scare-mongering” [...] The content of the Familiar Dialogues belies its audience in that it caters to the immediate language needs of refugees and deals with everyday interactions. These include going to school, shopping and eating a meal [...] Indeed , this little book, with its focus on domestic situations rather than travel/touristic situations, anticipates the refugee phrasebooks of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.Jacques Bellot’s Familiar Dialogues: An Early Modern Refugee Phrasebook // Read the book on Project Gutenberg // The history of Huguenot refugees in England // Linguist Simon Roper has a neat video exploring (and re-enacting) the book's practical "Street English"
Hatstorian
The Hat Historian provides short histories of various hats in English (et en français,) from the Top Hat (le Haut-de-Forme) to the Bowler (le chapeau melon,) from the Tricorn (le Tricorne) to the Picklehaube (le Casque à pointe,) from the Custodian Helmet (le Casque de Bobby) to the Hard Hat (le Casque de Chantier,) and, of course, the Beret (le béret.)
Ten interesting dissertations on games, play, and meaning
May-Ying Mary Ngai (2011), "From entertainment to enlightenment: a study on a cross-cultural religious board game with emphasis on the Table of Buddha Selection ...," highlighted in 2021 by George Pollard on Twitter / IA / Nitter: "around 830 C.E. a man named Li He ... invents a game named 採選 Cǎixuǎn, Selection with Dice, about promotion and demotion in the ranks of the state bureaucracy," giving rise to Shengguan Tu (pics: 陞官圖 / 升官图). Serina Laureen Patterson's (2017) "Game on: medieval players and their texts" discusses fortune games like "Chaunce of the Dyse" (see also), "Truth or Dare" / Q&A games with a chosen king/queen, e.g. "The King Who Does Not Lie" or "Le jeu du Roi et de la Reine," and more. [more inside]
O brave new world, that has such chatbots in’t.
"What would have happened if ChatGPT was invented in the 17th century? MonadGPT is a possible answer. MonadGPT is a finetune of Mistral-Hermes 2 on 11,000 early modern texts in English, French and Latin, mostly coming from EEBO and Gallica. Like the original Mistral-Hermes, MonadGPT can be used in conversation mode. It will not only answer in an historical language and style but will use historical and dated references. This is especially visible for science questions (astronomy, medecine). Obviously, it's not recommended to follow any advice from Monad-GPT." Available to install and run locally -- or you can try it out for free online. [more inside]
Concerts by Cercle
For 7 years, Cercle has been livestreaming DJs and other musicians playing sets from impressive locations around the world: Icelandic Wilderness (Ólafur Arnalds), Hot air balloon above Cappadocia (Ben Böhmer), Guatape Colombia (Above and Beyond), Lapland (Sofiane Pamart) , The Eiffel Tower (Nina Kraviz), Brighton i360 (Fatboy Slim) or Bali (Lee Burridge)... [more inside]
A Tasty Long Con
As the year turns to fall, (it'll be a chilly 85°F for me tomorrow) it's time to think about preserving a larder for the long cold winter. And while you can think about your pickles, your preserves and canned goods for days, let's look instead at the French technique of "confit". [more inside]
“Excuse moi? Quoi? Excuse moi? Quoi?”
The French lyric version of Chaise Longue. As posted previously, Chaise Longue is a song by Isle of Wight band Wet Leg. Live performances: Green Man, Copenhagen, Glastonbury, and Live on the Porch. Also by Wet Leg: Wet Dream, Ur Mum, Angelica, Oh No.
'Cause t'es gone nulle part avec ta 9 piece luggage set (chuis jet set)
Chiac is a French/English dialect from the Canadian province of New Brunswick, fluidly mixing English loaner words into principally French speech. Listening to chiac as song lyrics can be a delightful -- or disorienting -- experience for people, especially those with passing knowledge but not fluency in French. There are a lot of opportunities to find out, as there's no shortage of bands and musicians who record in chiac, from rap like Radio Radio's "Cliché Hot" to Lisa LeBlanc's "Gossip" to the bonkers brilliance of P'tit Belliveau's "Income Tax". [more inside]
Infinite zoom stories
French artist Vaskange uses infinitely zooming images to tell stories: the story of a robot, or his holidays, or a dream . The animations (made with the app "Endless paper") are reminiscent of work like 3 Secondes by fellow Frenchman Marc-Antoine Mathieu. Look out for the reflections!
We need to talk about Kévin
French namesakes fight national mockery - Film project highlights stories of class-based prejudice over name made popular by Kevins Costner and Keegan.
It was once the most popular boy’s name in France, inspired in part by Hollywood films and boybands. But for the more than 150,000 French Kevins, the name has become so targeted by mockery, comic sketches and class prejudice that a new documentary is hoping to set the record straight and “save the Kevins”. [more inside]
Parmentier, Peerless Potato Promoter
Who made the potato popular in France? Largely, it was Antoine-Augustin Parmentier! At a time when the potato was feared and despised, he used a variety of novel marketing schemes to change the public perception: bouquets of potato flowers for the queen, lavish potato dinners for dignitaries and a potato field under armed guard. His name lives on in potato dishes named after him and a Paris Metro stop.
Ze Making ov Ze Empire Strikez Back
If you're of a certain age, you might remember watching SP FX: The Empire Strikes Back [48m] on CBS back in the day. But have you ever considered, what a making-of feature for ESB might be like if it were made..... by a FRENCHMAN??? The Making Of The Empire Strikes Back [58m] directed by Michel Parbot.
That bass at 3:18! (several YTL)
Ilan Manouach
Ilan Manouach is a comics artist whose works include conceptual pieces appropriating from other comics , AI-generated New Yorker comics (in collaboration with Yannis Siglidis) and a tactile language. [more inside]
With and Against Napoleon, 1812
Ida Saint-Elme, Memoirs of a Contemporary, chapter 12: "The famous Russian expedition was about to begin. If what I have already written about my adventurous career has not shown what a daring spirit I had, it should be enough to say that I unhesitatingly made up my mind to chance the perils of the campaign of 1812" [n.b.: a loose, abridged translation of chs. 113-114 in the 8 vol. original; short 2020 bio in Dutch clearing up a few embellishments; her later life as publisher of a satirical magazine]. A brief excerpt from the memoir of Alexander Alexandrov relates connected events from the opposing side, and Ruth Wurl's 2021 talk "The (Un)making of a Man" recontextualizes that memoir in terms of Alexandrov's "own words, thoughts, feelings, and intentions" while leaving open the continuing and careful theorization of trans historiography.
"The excitement of the experiments ... caught the attention of Germain"
Dianna Cowern's Physics Girl videos "Singing plates - Standing waves on Chladni plates" (2014; also re: acoustic levitation) and "I built an acoustic LEVITATOR! Making liquid float on air" (2017; via DIY instructions with a 3D printer, Arduino, etc.; recent 256-channel alternative) demonstrate physics involved in ch. 3 of Amy Marie Hill's Sophie Germain: A Mathematical Biography [PDF]: "His Majesty the Emperor and King ... desires that the Class make this the subject of a prize ... for ... the development of a mathematical theory of the vibration of elastic surfaces ...' The deadline for entries was set for October 1, 1811." Hill explains obstacles to Germain's attempted théorie des surfaces élastiques, and Dora Musielak describes more recent research on Germain's well-recognized work on number theory "... and Her Fearless Attempt to Prove Fermat's Last Theorem" (PDF; cf. Sophie Germain's Identity & Sophie Germain Primes).
Pre-Surrealist Games
David Mitchell, "Manuel Complet des Jeux de Société by Elisabeth Celnart, 1827" and its story collab and/or Mad Libs-like precursors to Exquisite Corpse sometimes also in Catharine Harbeson Waterman's Book of Parlour Games, 1853: "L'Histoire ... in which each successive player only sees the last word of what was previously written ... [or, alternatively] in which each player adds information according to a previously agreed set of categories ... 'The game of 'l'histoire' [1812*; 1836*; Waterman 1853] is the same as the game of 'l'amphigouri' [1812*; 1866*], 'roman impromptu' [1812*; 1836*] and 'secrétaire' [1788*; 1812*; 1836*; Waterman 1853]." Also, on Oct. 10, 1824, Anne Lister (prev.) described the French parlor game of Les Résultats and compared it to Consequences [Higgins 1854; Sandison 1895]. Celnart is known for works on hair care, cosmetics*, perfumery, cooking*, etc.; Waterman, for a language of flowers. [*In French.]
Disney's Tower of Babel
Unlike many cinematic exports, the Disney canon of films distinguishes itself with an impressive dedication to dubbing.
Through an in-house service called Disney Character Voices International, not just dialogue but songs, too, are skillfully re-recorded, echoing the voice acting, rhythm, and rhyme scheme of the original work to an uncanny degree (while still leaving plenty of room for lyrical reinvention).
The breadth of the effort is surprising, as well -- everything from Arabic to Icelandic to Zulu gets its own dub, and their latest project, Encanto, debuted in more than forty tongues (can you even name that many?).
Luckily for polyglots everywhere, the exhaustiveness of Disney's translations is thoroughly documented online in multilanguage mixes and one-line comparisons, linguistic kaleidoscopes that cast new light on old standards. Highlights:
"One Jump Ahead," "Prince Ali," and "A Whole New World" (Aladdin) -
"Circle of Life," "Hakuna Matata," and "Luau!" (The Lion King) -
"Part of Your World", "Under the Sea", and "Poor Unfortunate Souls" (The Little Mermaid) -
"Belle" and "Tale as Old as Time" (Beauty and the Beast) -
"Just Around the Riverbend" and "Colors of the Wind" (Pocahontas) -
"One Song" and "Heigh-Ho" (Snow White) -
"When You Wish Upon a Star" (Pinocchio) -
"When She Loved Me" (Toy Story 2) -
"Let It Go" (Frozen) -
"How Far I'll Go" and "You're Welcome" (Moana) -
"Remember Me" (Coco) -
"We Don't Talk About Bruno" (Encanto) -
Disney Classics, Princesses, Heroes, and Villains in their native languages
RIP Jean-Jacques Beineix 8 October 1946 - 13 January 2022
Jean-Jacques Beineix, stylish French film director, passed away at home in Paris on 13 January 2022 after a long illness. [more inside]
Three French Heads
Tired of maids a-milking and lords a-leaping? Time to make revolutionary shifts in your Christmas gift-giving, with the Twelve Days of Thermidor. (Cute kid cameo too.)
"Written by someone who doesn't care much for plot"
Anjali Joseph (Literary Activism, 11/2021), "Madame Bovary and the Impossibility of Re-reading": "In a way it's not a novel about human characters at all: it's a novel of objects and insects and sunlight and birds, of stains, or habit and repetition. And though the characters in the novel live straitened lives, lives in which there isn't much pleasure or satisfaction, the phenomenal world around them is generous with beauty." Birger Vanwesenbeeck's similarly personal reflections. French text. Notable translation and introduction by Eleanor Marx (entry at Marxists.org) criticized, contextualized / appreciated, and appreciated further.
Plainte - Chekoua - Lamentation / Épreuve - Mihna - Hardship
Chris Silver (Gharamaphone): "In May 2020, I posted Sariza Cohen's stunning recording of 'أَشْكُوا الْغَـرَامَ' (Ashku al-gharam) [Soundcloud], released ... in 1938. This is the other side of that record [Soundcloud]. It is no less remarkable. Here the pianist and vocalist from Oran performs a composition by Algerian Jewish impresario Edmond Nathan Yafil." More on Yafil in "Breaking the Colonial Spell" by Jonathan Glasser, whose introductory anthro lecture "What is a Boundary Good For?" also reflects on Line Monty, Alice Fitoussi, and Salim Hilali. A detail connecting her to music trends in metropolitan France and the US is that Sariza Cohen's brothers operated the well-known Café des Ambassadeurs (producing a revue by Cole Porter) and Maxsa record label (helping popularize jazz etc.).
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We lost two great actors today
How a French movie became part of America’s culture war
A movie critiquing the sexualization of young girls is accused of doing the thing it criticizes. Here’s how the controversy started — and why it matters. (Vox) [more inside]
Harpist covers classic rock and pop
There are lots of "musician covers song on weird instrument" mefi posts but this one is mine Allow me to interrupt as the internet celebrates the "Man who shot himself in the Balls" with some love for Maël Isaac. A French experimental musician with a penchant for covering classic rock and pop on a harp... and killer vocal accompaniment. [more inside]
5 Shorts Project/Projet 5 courts
The National Film Board of Canada's 5 Shorts Project "explores the short documentary genre by working with artist-run centres or production centres throughout the various regions of Quebec," and the fourth edition consists of films "created by a filmmaker-sound artist duo: Attuned (Steve Verreault and Sébastien Dave Tremblay) [NFB | YouTube], Mounds (Nicolas Paquet and Tom Jacques) [NFB | YouTube], It'll Be Nice Out Tomorrow (Guillaume Lévesque and Antoine Létourneau-Berger) [NFB | YouTube] and Night Fair (Cynthia Naggar and Gueze) [NFB | YouTube]." [more inside]
"Symbolic of the nostalgia for a life I didn’t know."
Scholastique Mukasonga (The New Yorker, 11/12/2018), "Cattle Praise Song": "'Karekezi,' my father said, 'look after Intamati.' I went to her immediately: she was one of those cows we call isine, with a shiny black hide. My father had likely assigned her to me because she was a heifer known for her strength, who might one day lead the herd." Mukasonga explains her story in "On Tutsi Life and the Rwandan Genocide." More recently, she explains her story "Grief" in "On Writing and Mourning from Exile." Excerpts from Cockroaches, The Barefoot Woman, and Our Lady of the Nile are available online.
Phooey.
Chanson Profonde. A world-weary yet passionate cat artiste sings from the heart (in French, of course). Cello played by Yo-Yo Ma, piano played by Michael Ford, accordion played by un invité surprise. Brought to you by singer (and animatreuse) Sandra Boynton
Les Archives Algeriennes
Les Archives Algeriennes pulls together videos from across Algerian history. For example, Wander through Algiers in 1896. Depart for Mecca in 1966. Return from Mecca in 1954. Watch wild monkeys on the road in 1925. Wander through Algiers in 1919. Go to school in Kabylie in 1950. Watch Alphonse Halimi box in 1960. Join 10,000 women marching in Algiers on International Women's Day, 1965. Visit the Algerian Jewish community of Ashdod, Israel in 1966. Spend some time with the Ouled Nail in 1929. Vote YES for Independence in 1962. Celebrate the International Day of Anti-Colonialism in 1967.
"Deep in rococo imagery of fairies, princesses, diamonds and pearls"
Terri Windling (03/2020), "Once upon a time in Paris...": "As the vogue for fairy stories evolved in the 1670s and '80s, Madame d'Aulnoy emerged as one of the most popular raconteurs in Paris ... she soon formed a glittering group around her of nonconformist women and men, as well as establishing a highly successful and profitable literary career ... So how, we might ask, did Perrault become known as the only French fairy tale author of note?" Elizabeth Winter (12/2016), "Feminist Fairies and Hidden Agendas": "the term contes de fées ... was coined by ... d'Aulnoy in 1697, when she published her first collection of tales." Volker Schröder (2018-2019): this collection "is often described as 'lost' or 'untraceable'" and its "sequel has become just as scarce"; but d'Aulnoy's tales are available online, and mixed reviews such as those of the Brothers Grimm may call to mind her childhood marginalia: "if you have my book and ... don't appreciate what's inside, I wish you ringworm, scabies ... and a broken neck." [more inside]
Cinematic, emotional piano from neoclassical pianist Sarah Coponat
Cosmos, a piece inspired by the disorienting beauty of spaceflight.
Ocean, a crashing journey through stormy seas.
Sarah is notable not only for her wild use of arpeggios, but also for her pop covers. For fans of Nils Frahm, Max Richter, Yann Tiersen, Daniel Thorne, Liszt, and Ravel.
Les Simpson
So, each episode of the Simpsons is dubbed into two different versions for French markets. There's a Quebec French version, and a France French version.
Fans of the Quebec dub hate the European dub, and vice versa. [more inside]
"Me knew it was a bouillon spoon!"
The Downton Abbey theme (seen in the Downton Abbey intro), but played only on piano; but played on classical guitar; but played on twin harps; but it's the metal version (set to the show intro, with the longer version on Bandcamp); but it's Bill Bailey's Jamaican Dub Reggae version (with a bit on different sirens first, from Michael McIntyre's Easter Night at the Coliseum -- IMDb; BBC One; Daily Motion).
Doctor Mix recreates Jean-Michel Jarre's Oxygène Part 4
Producer and musician Claudio Passavanti - from Doctor Mix - recreates Part 4 of Jean-Michel Jarre's Oxygène. [more inside]
“s/he shook my rack/bookshelf”
What does ‘I love you’ mean? It depends on where you say it and what language you speak. Translators, scholars, and dating coaches from various countries discuss expressions of love. -- Alice Robb for the Washington Post.
"You won't have to worry about feeling desolate when autumn comes"
Hiroaki Sato (LitHub, 11/5/2018), "Haiku: The Evolution of a Strict Poetic Game": "In simplest terms, haikai meant rejection of poetic diction and adoption of language in daily use. Orthodox court poetry did not tolerate references to quotidian, down-to-earth things like shiru, 'soup,' and namasu, 'fish salad,' so incorporating daily elements was haikai. As Bashō himself explained, harusame no yanagi, 'willow in spring rain,' represented the world of court poetry, but tanishi toru karasu, 'a crow picking pond snails,' was haikai, according to Bashō's disciple Hattori Tohō." [more inside]
"My mind drifts to that time when Paris didn't resemble the USA at all"
In "Nadja à Paris" (New York Review of Books, Apr. 29, 2015), Nadja Tesich offers an account of starring in Éric Rohmer's short film Nadja in Paris (1964; 13 mins., available in two parts): "Over the years it had become like an official version of my life, obliterating the rest. While real life was bigger, it was chaotic and shapeless. The film had a structure, and I could see myself." In an epilogue, Tesich says, "We were many things for each other ... but for [Éric] I was always 'Nadja' from André Breton's novel [PDF]." Filmmaker/theorist Richard Misek had briefly wondered about these issues in Rohmer in Paris (2013; 67 mins.), but his documentary remains of interest as a larger meditation on cinephilia, Paris, coincidence, and obsession.
C'est l'Halloween, c'est l'halloween, HEY!
Je suis un Génie, jongleur, magicien
If you've ever wondered "what might a cut-rate Disney musical cartoon number look like?" Alex Ramirès has the answer, in a series of low cost adaptations, in French: La Petite Sirene | Pocahontas | Vaiana feat. Elodie Arnould | La Reine Des Neiges | Le Roi Lion Feat Max Bird | Aladdin with Nino Arial | Bonus: playlist of other low cost movie scenes. Double bonus: if you want to sing along or understand the literal translations of the lyrics, head over to Lyrics Translate.
Beyond Two Solitudes
French Toast Pizza
chop ayam
The story of Ayam Brand, set up in Singapore by a Frenchman, and how it got its name Still French-owned, the company started out selling tinned sardines with Clouet, the name of its founder, on the cans along with a rooster, symbol of France. That led Malays to dub it ‘chop ayam’ – the chicken brand. The rest is history
Photos from the beginning of the 20th century, searchable by world map
Le musée départemental Albert-Kahn conserve les Archives de la Planète, un ensemble d'images fixes et animées, réalisé au début du XXe siècle, consacré à la diversité des peuples et des cultures.
La Piscine: Wow! First of all, do not kiss my ass. You big perv'!
Drolatique
"...these are the most curious pictures that can be found in the whole world..." A fascinating and discursive essay on Les songes drolatiques de Pantagruel, a 16th-century collection of enigmatic monsters.
Let Food Be Thy Medicine
Watch Knife Skills (full video - 40 min), the Oscar-nominated short documentary about the opening of Edwins, a fine French restaurant in Cleveland, Ohio, that is staffed almost entirely by ex-inmates with no prior restaurant experience. They have to learn everything there is to know about French food and restaurants in a very short period of time.
#fonduegate
Why The Customer Is Not Always Right In France [The Local] “As a veteran of fondues I know what I want in there: Comté, Beaufort and Appenzel. Forget Emmental, it's not strong enough. But my usual Paris cheese monger put a spanner in the works this week. When I asked him for some Beaufort he just looked at me and shook his head. The conversation went roughly like this.” [Twitter Thread]
Faux Foods of Silicone, Glass, and Clay
When you don't speak the language, just point. First link is about a Japanese maker of food replicas who's been at it for 60 years. The second link is a woman with allergies who was inspired by the Great British Baking Show to satisfy her longings. French desserts
a small win against 'just trash it' attitude
Monsieur Pep has been repairing umbrellas in Paris for nearly fifty years. (2:20 SLYoutube) It is the only umbrella repair shop in France.
Rock Star Philosopher
In the TLS this week, Samuel Earle reviews two books on literary theorist Roland Barthes. Neil Badmington's book is discussed further in Rhys Tranter's interview with the author, who is editor of the open access Barthes Studies. Philippe Sollers's book includes material available online in French. At architecture / theory blog The Charnel-House, "The Marxism of Roland Barthes" covers an element of Barthes's background and links to primary sources suitable as introductions, e.g. Mythologies, Camera Lucida, "The Death of the Author," and S/Z— a dissection of Balzac's Sarrasine (included as an appendix).