Lecture 

Préparation

The readings for this unit consist of three prescriptive (or injunctive) texts:

Le texte prescriptif (ou injonctif)

• The first text is a “prescriptive” prose poem, Petite lettre à la dérive, by Jean Cocteau.
  
• The second reading involves two texts: a poem, Le Hareng saur (The Kippered/ Smoked Herring), by Charles Cros accompanied by excerpts from a humorous set of instructions for reciting the poem. These instructions are written in the French genre of monologue fumiste (a comic monologue) by Ernest Coquelin a.k.a Coquelin cadet (junior).
  
• The third text is a recipe for marinated smoked herring.
  

Le texte  nº 1

Source: Wikimedia

Première lecture

Jean Cocteau (1889-1963)

“[…] was a French poet, novelist, dramatist, designer, boxing manager, playwright, artist and filmmaker. Along with other avant-garde artists of his generation […] Cocteau grappled with the algebra of verbal codes old and new, mise en scène language and technologies of modernism to create a paradox: a classical avant-garde.

[…] Despite his achievements in virtually all literary and artistic fields, Cocteau insisted that he was primarily a poet and that all his work was poetry. […]

Cocteau is best known for his novel Les Enfants terribles (1929), and the films Blood of a Poet (1930), Les Parents terribles (1948), Beauty and the Beast (1946), and Orpheus (1949).”

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Cocteau

1. As you read Cocteau’s poem, underline in the text and then note below all the characteristics of a prescriptive text that apply from the table on page 1.

Le texte nº 1

Regardez de plus près: le texte nº 1

The title of this poem requires interpretation.

une dérive (n.) nautical term = a drift or drifting

Figuratively = an intellectual or artistic drift or disturbing trend.

Source: http://www.linternaute.com/dictionnaire/fr/definition/derive-1/

à la dérive  (adj.) = adrift, off course

Raymond Radiguet, another well-known writer and close friend of Cocteau’s wrote in an article entitled, “Conseils aux grands poètes”:

« Efforcez-vous d’être [Strive to be] banal. »

An explanation for this advice is given on the following site:

« Cette injonction est surtout une mise en garde contre les dérives dadaïstes*, mais aussi la revendication d’un certain naturel, celui des classiques.

Source: http://www.alalettre.com/radiguet.php

*Dada – “An early twentieth century art movement which ridiculed contemporary

culture and traditional art forms. […] It was born as a consequence of the collapse during World War I of social and moral values which had developed to that time. Dada artists produced works which were nihilistic or reflected a cynical attitude toward social values, and, at the same time, irrational — absurd and playful, emotive and intuitive, and often cryptic. Less a style than a zeitgeist, Dadaists typically produced art objects in unconventional forms produced by unconventional methods. […] the word dada means several things in several languages: it's French for "hobbyhorse" and Slavic for "yes yes." Some authorities say that the name Dada is a nonsensical word chosen at random from a dictionary.

Many artists associated with this movement later became associated with Surrealism.”

Source: http://www.artlex.com/ArtLex/d/dada.html

1. Look at Cocteau’s poem again. In what ways does he play with conventions in order to arrive at “a classical avant-garde”? 

Les textes  nº 2

Source: Wikimedia

Première lecture

“Charles Cros (1842-1888) was a French poet, scientist and inventor. […]
In the 1870s, he conceived of a device that would mechanically record sound by tracing oscillations on a cylinder with a screw. He called his invention the Paleophone and submitted it to the Academy of Sciences in Paris, who scoffed at him. A year later, the better- funded Thomas Edison demonstrated a working model of the device, which came to be known as the phonograph. In the end, Cros had the last laugh at the French scientists who snubbed him: The French equivalent of our own National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (responsible for the Grammy Awards) is called L'Académie Charles Cros, and their annual award is named Le Prix Charles Cros.”

Source: http://eliptikon.blogspot.com/2007/11/charles-cros.html

“Le Hareng saur est un poème de Charles Cros. Déjà célèbre en son temps, ce poème humoristique composé en 1872 est encore aujourd'hui très connu en France pour avoir été appris par cœur (learned by heart) et récité par des générations d'écoliers.

Le poème a pour origine une histoire que Charles Cros raconta un soir à son fils pour le faire dormir. […] Le poème était dédié à son fils aîné, Guy Cros.”

Source: http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le_Hareng_saur

Hareng saur = kippered herring (herring that has been cured, salted and dried)

1. As you read the poem by Charles Cros, underline the words that you cannot decode. Do not yet use a dictionary, though!

Le texte nº 2a

Regardez de plus près: le texte 2a

1. Watch and listen to the animated version linked below to expand your comprehension of the text. Look for visual clues to make sense of the words you underlined, and note their meanings.

Afterwards, if there are still words you do not understand, look them up in a dictionary and note the most likely translations.

Links for animated video (different links to same video):  

Source = WAT tv:  http://www.wat.tv/video/charles-cros-hareng-saur-qas4_2fgqp_.html

Source = YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-q_0tqovYOk

[Note: If you have difficulty accessing this page, google Charles Cros hareng saur]

Le texte  nº 2b

 Première lecture

 Source: Wikimedia CC-BY-SA HdL85

“[Charles Cros’] poem The Kippered Herring inspired Coquelin cadet to create what he called monologues” 

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Cros

Monologue fumiste*

“C'est au cours de l'une de ces lectures, […] que le comédien Coquelin cadet eut la révélation d'un genre nouveau, appelé « monologue fumiste » ou tout simplement « monologue », qui allait faire fureur [was to be all the rage] dans les années 1880 […]

En cette fin de XIXe siècle, le monologue peut donc être défini comme « une pièce en soi, toujours comique, courte, à un personnage » et « au rythme nécessairement rapide. » […] le genre s'inscrit dans une longue continuité, depuis les théâtres de foire au Moyen Âge, où un personnage faisait rire les badauds [onlookers/audience] en débitant de longues tirades aussi absurdes que cocasses [comical], jusqu'au XXe siècle avec le one-man-show, le stand-up et le sketch.”

Source: http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le_Hareng_saur

*Fumiste (n.)

“D'après un vaudeville de 1840, la Famille du fumiste [chimney sweeps], dont le héros, un fumiste enrichi, se vante de ses bons tours en répétant : «C'est une farce de fumiste» ; d'après Guiraud, l'évolution de sens réelle serait «celui qui produit de la fumée» [someone who blows smoke]”

Source: http://www.languefrancaise.net/bob/detail.php?id=3082

1. As you read Coquelin’s monologue, underline in the text and then note below all the characteristics of a prescriptive text that apply from the table on page 1.

Le texte nº 2b

Source: http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le_Hareng_saur

Le texte  nº 3

Première lecture

1. As you read the recipe below, underline in the text and then note below all the characteristics of a prescriptive text that apply from the table on page 1.

Le texte nº 3

Regardez de plus près: le texte nº 3

Use the following site to convert the cooking measurements in the recipe into English equivalents. Write the equivalents in the recipe:

http://www.french-at-a-touch.com/Gourmet/cooking_conversions.htm

Allons plus loin

En groupe:

1. Comparez vos textes et vos réponses dans les activités de la section “Première lecture”.

2. In the “Préparation” section of the recipe (Texte nº 3), replace the infinitive verbs with imperative-tu and imperative-vous forms. What can you infer about differences in register and/or function between the use of these three verb forms in prescriptive texts?

3. Discutez les différents textes: 

a. Texte nº 1 : Petite Lettre à la dérive –

What do you make of this poem? How might the structure and content of the poem fit   Cocteau’s philosophy?

b. Texte nº 2b: Le texte du Hareng saur avec des conseils sur l'art de le dire –

With your partners, recite the beginning and the end of the poem following Coquelin’s “stage instructions.”

Compare the effect with that of the reading in the animated video version.

WAT tv:  http://www.wat.tv/video/charles-cros-hareng-saur-qas4_2fgqp_.html

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-q_0tqovYOk

c. What similarities or differences do you find?

d. Even though Coquelin’s instructions are humorous, do they bring insight to the poem, and if so, in what way/s?

e. Texte nº 3: La recette –

Would you like to try this recipe? Why/why not?

4. Note culturelle: Food has played a very important role in French culture. To learn some food-based idioms look at one of the following websites and write down 3 expressions that you particularly like:

http://moderntroubadours.blogspot.com/2010/10/its-all-about-food-french-idioms.html

http://chocolateandzucchini.com/archives/cat_french_idioms.php

Compare your choices with your partners and be ready to explain why you like the expressions you chose! 

5. Counting on Nouns

Unit 1a of Le Littéraire dans le quotidien entitled, What’s in a name”, provides an introduction to base nouns (nouns with no determiner) that act as adjectives. While nouns have prototypical meaning as either count or noncount concepts, most nouns can be used to express a range of noun meanings from countable to mass to abstract, depending on how the speaker is thinking about the noun idea and the form that the speaker then uses to express that idea. Think about the word café. Is its prototypical meaning countable or mass? Look at the following range of meanings and the forms used to express them:

Indefinite substance; partitive, noncount

One or more individual, indefinite portions/types; count

One or more individual, definite portions/types; count

Generic class; noncount

Adjective; idiomatic/metaphorical

Beaucoup de « de »

Noun phrase structures in French often utilize the invariable form of “de” to connect ideas. Just as in English we do NOT say: a lot of some chicken, in French there is a phonetic rule called la règle de cacophonie that prohibits combinations such as…

X  beaucoup de du poulet,  trop de de la tarte,  une bouteille de de l'eau,   beaucoup de des livres

The invariable “de” is a sort of fusion between the preposition “of” and the partitive article “some.”

Here are some key categories for using the invariable “de”:

Expressions of quantity

beaucoup de fromage ;  trop de fromage ;  un peu de fromage;  pas du tout de fromage

un verre de vin;   un kilo de riz;   une bouteille d'eau;  

une boîte de céréales (Note that cereal is a mass noun in English but a count noun in French.)

une salade de fruits

un cours de français;    deux cours d'histoire

The type/purpose of something/someone

une salle de jeux;   une salle de spectacle (= auditorium, concert hall, performance space)        

mes camarades de chambre;   les camarades de classe        

des articles de sport                (vs. Je fais du sport = partitive)

Origin/source of something

une université d’économie;   des problèmes de grammaire;   un stylo de luxe;  

les histoires de conquêtes

a. Look again at the recipe for smoked herring. Find all of the instances of noun phrases with “de/d’.” Look at the categories above with a partner and identify the function of each “de” in the recipe.

b. Compare your answers as a class.

 Écriture

Source: Wikimedia CC-BY-SA Nicolo

Type de texte  

a recipe (une recette) with a set of instructions (des instructions)

Votre écrit

1. Choose a recipe that has particular meaning for you: one from your childhood or current life, or a Francophone recipe that represents a dimension of culture that you would like to ingest. If the recipe is in English, include the original and translate it into French. If you find a French recipe online, do not copy and paste it into your draft; write it out in French. In either case, include measurements in both English and French so that you may better understand the equivalents.

Here is a site for converting cooking measurements:

http://www.french-at-a-touch.com/Gourmet/cooking_conversions.htm

2. Write a prescriptive text in the form of a set of instructions on when and how to appreciate (déguster) your recipe, thereby turning it into un véritable chef-d'œuvre! Your text can be humorous, surreal or genuine.

Préparation

1. Choose your audience and brainstorm the various areas of instruction that would meet your audience’s needs and/or interests, using as much vocabulary and grammar from the chapter in your textbook as possible.

2. Include the following stylistic conventions as appropriate for your text and audience:

- Nominal phrases

- A clear chronology of steps

- Short concise sentences (independent clauses) and no extraneous information

- Use of infinitive or imperative -vous or -tu forms, depending on your audience

- Negative structures to express things to avoid:

Ne mange pas si vite.         = Don’t…

Ne bougez pas le corps        = Don’t/Do not…

For infinitive directives:        À ne pas manger vite. =  Not to be eaten quickly.

                                À ne pas savourer sans vin. =  Not to be enjoyed without wine.

À ne pas manquer! = Not to be missed!

3. Écrivez un brouillon.

Rédaction en collaboration

1. Avec un partenaire, échangez vos brouillons.

a. Lisez le texte de votre partenaire une première fois. Si vous avez du mal à comprendre quelque chose, clarifiez le sens du mot ou de la signification du passage avec votre partenaire.

b. Lisez le texte une deuxième fois et préparez vos remarques sur les questions suivantes:

• Register

Identify the register of the recipe and the instructions, and a plausible intended audience. Is the style of writing consistently geared to that audience? If not, what suggestions might you make?

• Clarity of instructions

Act out the instructions provided in the prescriptive text. Are there directives that are not clear? What suggestions could you give for greater clarity?

• Literal Translations

Is there any language in your partner’s text that you can recognize as a direct translation from English? Point out any such instances to your partner and either omit the expression or simplify the idea using the language and stuctures that you are studying.

• Style

Identify the style: humorous, surreal or genuine. Depending on the style, can you make suggestions for strengthening the effect?

3. Révisez votre brouillon et préparez votre version finale.