Lecture 

Préparation

Graffiti is a public form of expression, often combining image and text. As a written genre, aphorism plays a key role. Aphorism: “1. A tersely phrased statement of a truth or opinion.  2. A brief statement of a principle.”

Source: http://grammar.about.com/od/ab/g/aphorismterm.htm 

You will be reading two texts related to graffiti in France, each from a period in which socio-political issues provided intense motivation for expression:

• The first text is a collection of slogans and aphorisms from May ’68.
  From May ‘68 and Its Afterlives, Kristin Ross, 2002:

During May 1968, students and workers in France united in the biggest strike and the largest mass movement in French history. Protesting capitalism, American imperialism, and Gaullism, 9 million people from all walks of life, from shipbuilders to department store clerks, stopped working. The nation was paralyzed—no sector of the workplace was untouched. Yet, just thirty years later, the mainstream image of May ‘68 in France has become that of a mellow youth revolt, a cultural transformation stripped of its violence and profound sociopolitical implications.

Kristin Ross shows how the current official memory of May ‘68 came to serve a political agenda antithetical to the movement’s aspirations. She examines the roles played by sociologists, repentant ex-student leaders, and the mainstream media in giving what was a political event a predominantly cultural and ethical meaning. Recovering the political language of May ‘68 through the tracts, pamphlets, and documentary film footage of the era, Ross reveals how the original movement, concerned above all with the question of equality, gained a new and counterfeit history, one that erased police violence and the deaths of participants, removed workers from the picture, and eliminated all traces of anti-Americanism, anti-imperialism, and the influences of Algeria and Vietnam.

Source: http://www.press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/M/bo3644914.html

• The second text is an article written by a French student in political science and journalism while interning for a Canadian web magazine, on the calligraffiti artist, El Seed.
  
  

Source: Wikimedia

Calligraffiti is the blending of traditional arabic calligraphy with a graffiti aesthetic and is used by certain francophone graffiti artists of arab descent.

1. What examples of graffiti or slogans in English can you think of?

 Le texte nº 1

Première lecture

1. En lisant (while reading), notez les stratégies suivantes:

a. Soulignez les mots que vous avez besoin de chercher dans un dictionnaire et notez les traductions.

b. Déterminez la structure de chaque slogan et soulignez les mots-clés.

Par ex : L’émancipation de l’homme sera totale ou ne sera pas.

Le texte nº 1

Regardez de plus près: le texte nº 1

2. Lisez les slogans une deuxième fois. Bien qu’ils (Even though they) utilisent des techniques différentes, quel est leur point commun (what do they have in common)?  Répondez en français ou en anglais.

Le texte nº 2

Première lecture

1. Aimez-vous les graffitis? Quels sont les points positifs et négatifs? Notez vos idées ci-dessous. Répondez en français ou en anglais.  

2. En lisant (while reading), si vous trouvez dans le texte les mêmes idées que vous avez notées, cochez-les dans la marge. Après avoir lu le texte, si vous avez découvert de nouvelles idées, notez-les ci-dessous. Répondez en français ou en anglais.

Le texte nº 2

Source: http://raymondviger.wordpress.com/2009/05/14/graffiti-calligraphie-el-seed-2/

 Regardez de plus près: le texte nº 2

1. Parcourez (scan) l’article une deuxième fois et soulignez les verbes. 

Quels sont les temps des verbes (verb tenses) utilisés?

2. Quelle est l’organisation du texte en fonction des temps utilisés?

3. Pourquoi pensez-vous que l’auteur a fait ce choix du temps des verbes?

Allons plus loin

1. Avec votre partenaire, comparez vos textes et vos réponses.

2. Le texte nº 1: les slogans de mai 68:  Parcourez (scan) les slogans. Lequel préférez-vous? Pourquoi?

3. Le texte nº 2: « Graffiti calligraphié: El Seed »

Parcourez l’article. Quelles idées vous intéressent le plus? Pourquoi ?

4. Comparisons of Prepositions in English and French

a. Prepositions are function words that show relationships between nouns, verbs and nouns, and different parts of a sentence. They allow us to add contextual information to the core who did what to whom of a sentence: where, when, in what way, in what sequence, for whom or for what purpose, to what degree or measure, and with what exceptions or oppositions.

The prototypical meanings of prepositions relate to defining spatial relationships or where something/someone is in reference to something or someone else. In order to express spatial relationships, prepositions need to account for notions of movement or position and 2-dimensional  (surface) or 3-dimensional space. In English, the spatial meanings of prepositions are highly specific and work closely with the verb: prepositions of movement prototypically work with activity verbs (go/run/swim + to), prepositions of position prototypically work with verbs of state or position (live/be/stand + at/on/in), prepositions that express a position as a result of movement prototypically work with verbs that express movement with an endpoint (arrive + at).

Once prototypical spatial meanings are in place, prepositions lend themselves to countless metaphorical meanings and uses:

The farmer chased the rabbit out of the garden.        (spatial)

The farmer is out of his mind.         (metaphorical)

We are out of milk.        (metaphorical)

The birds sitting on the gate were singing.        (spatial)

Turn on the lights.        (metaphorical)

The story went on and on.        (metaphorical)

Metaphorical meanings can also be generated from seemingly conflicting verb–preposition pairings:

He threw the ball to me. (= indirect object) [verb of motion + preposition of movement]

He threw the ball at the dog.  (= target) [verb of motion + preposition of position]

In fact, prepositions in English are so prevalent that they can also be used as content words: She has an in with the company (noun); They upped the price (verb).

The prepositional system in French, however, is more restrictive, which means that it is often impossible to directly translate from one language to the other. One difference is that English uses a lot of [verb + preposition] constructions to create new verb meaning (look up, look into, look after, look over), whereas French uses a different verb to express each idea (chercher, examiner, s'occuper de, feuilleter).

Another difference is that the French system sometimes collapses the categories of movement and position into one preposition (especially with à and de), and it is the verb that specifies the notion of movement or position.

In fact, "à" and/or "de" are the most varied and frequently used prepositions in French. They are also the only two that require contraction and agreement with definite common nouns:

 à + le/la/les = au, à la, à l', aux

de + le/la/les = du, de la, de l', des.

Spatial Meanings of "à" and "de" with Definite Proper and Common Nouns:

b. Look at the following sentences taken from the two texts in this unit.

• Translate them, paying close attention to the underlined prepositions.
• Compare your answers as a class to see if you all agree.
• What can you deduce, for example, about the difference between “dans” and “en”?

1. Nous voulons les structures au service de l’homme

2. c’est un moyen de partager et de revenir aux origines

3. Vous pouvez arracher l’homme de son pays…mais pas le pays du cœur de l’homme. 

4. La plus belle sculpture, c’est le pavé qu’on jette sur la gueule des flics.

5. Il n’y a pas de murs légaux en France sur lesquels les artistes peuvent s’exprimer.

6. Sème ton art pour récolter demain !

7. La volonté de faire découvrir la culture arabo-musulmane est pour lui une attitude globale.

8. La poésie est dans la rue.

9. Il a appris dans des cours du soir.

10. C’est en 1998 qu’il commence.

11. El Seed signifie « l’homme », en arabe, et le mot « seed » veut dire « graine » en anglais.

Écriture

Type de texte  – 1

Aphorism (aphorisme)

Source: Wikimedia

Préparation – 1

The aphorism uses rhetorical verbal structures like antithesis, parallelism, proportion, oxymoron, chiasmus, metaphor, and paradox, in a concise, emphatic manner to address this matrix of oppositions. […] The aphorism's meaning is not immediately obvious; indeed often at first glance it is impenetrable. It typically works dialectically […], forcing the reader to rethink, to complete the dialectical process of an active search for an unexpected meaning.

Source: http://www.custom-essay.net/essay-encyclopedia/Aphorism-essay.htm

Here are techniques for creating oppositions demonstrated in the slogans from texts 1 and 2:

1. Adding a negative prefix to a word and contrasting it with the affirmative form:

- ordre/désordre

- la composition d’une image/ la décomposition de l’art

- diaboliser  [to demonize] quelque chose/  « dédiaboliser » [to “dedemonize”]

Some negative prefixes in French :

a/n-          “added to adjectives and nouns to indicate negation or deprivation”.

- un apatride est quelqu’un qui n’a pas de patrie, qui est sans patrie.

- un individu asocial est une personne qui vit en dehors de la société (il est marginal).

dé/s-        “ajouté à des verbes, des noms ou des adjectifs”.

Devant une voyelle ou un h muet, on ajoute un s 

conseiller ➛ déconseiller;  avantage ➛ désavantage; armé ➛ désarmé

in-         “un préfixe négatif qu’il suffit d’ajouter à un adjectif qualificatif : certain ➛ incertain.

Ce préfixe est variable, c’est-à-dire qu’il va changer selon le mot qui suit :

- devant un l, le préfixe devient il-        (lisible ➝illisible)
- devant un m, un b ou un p le préfixe devient im-  (modéré ➝immodéré)
- devant un r le préfixe devient ir-   (récupérable ➝irrécupérable)”

Source : http://french.about.com/od/vocabulary/a/prefix-a.htm

Source : http://www.synapse-fr.com/manuels/PREFIXE.htm

Source : http://fr.zoolanguage.com/vocabulaire-francais:-les-prefixes-negatifs_document

Source : http://www.ralentirtravaux.com/lettres/cours/prefixes.php

2. Writing a sentence that contrasts two or more ideas via a negation pattern

- Vous pouvez arracher l’homme de son pays…

  …mais pas le pays du cœur de l’homme. 

- L’émancipation de l’homme sera totale ou ne sera pas.

- Nous voulons les structures au service de l’homme
 et non pas l’homme au service des structures.

3. Using semantic contrasts

- Il est violent quand on l’opprime, il est doux quand il est libre.

- Vous participez. Ils profitent.

4. Using conceptual contrasts

- La poésie est dans la rue.

- La plus belle sculpture, c’est le pavé qu’on jette sur la gueule des flics.

5. Writing a sentence in which the second half is a reversal of the first half (chiasmus)

- Quand l’assemblée nationale devient un théâtre bourgeois,

   tous les théâtres bourgeois doivent devenir des assemblées nationales.

Votre écrit – 1

1. Create an aphorism about city life: 

a. Look through the vocabulary that you are studying.

b. Play with contrasting techniques until you find a relationship that captures your imagination and write an aphorism using this contrast.

c. Think about a possible meaning for it – funny, surreal, surprising or profound.

2. Optional:

If your aphorism is long, for a further challenge, try transforming it into a French “tweet” in 140 characters or less!

Concerning the translation of ‘a tweet’ in French […] In France we would say: ‘il l'a écrit sur twitter ou il a posté le lien sur twitter’ instead, or even, ‘il a twitté’ which has been transformed into a verb, but this is informal and only used between young people.

Source: http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=1573585

If you need to use abbreviations, look at the following About.com site for texting in French (Les Textos français). Think carefully about the pronunciation of the letters and numbers in order to understand the abbreviations. :

http://french.about.com/library/writing/bl-texting.htm

Type de texte  – 2 

Explanatory text (texte explicatif)

Votre écrit – 2

1. Explain your aphorism

a. Provide a brief explanation of your aphorism using present tense.

b. Using passé composé verbs and the following time expressions for establishing the chronology, incorporate a sequence of events (imagined or real) about something that happened or something that someone did that could act as illustration of the meaning. Write this sequence as a bulleted list of events.

Sequence words

* “For regular verbs with an infinitive ending in –er, the past participle is formed by replacing the final -er of the infinitive with -é.”  

Source: http://www.laits.utexas.edu/tex/gr/tap2.html

c. Optional:

Sign your own tag to your text by using the following website! If possible, use a style of tag that in some way complements or reinforces the meaning of your aphorism:

http://www.graffiticreator.net/

2. 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 la signification du passage avec votre partenaire.

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

• Aphorism Structure

Read the aphorism and underline the oppositional structure. If abbreviations were used, circle them. Can you interpret the “unexpected meaning” of the aphorism? Does the structure adequately convey the message?

• Topic Development

Read the explanatory text. Does the explanation in present tense adequately develop the idea ? Does the chosen sequence of past events adequately exemplify the meaning ?

• Passé Composé Verbs and Sequencing of Events

Read the sequence of past events again and underline the passé composé verbs and the adverbs used for sequencing. Is the chronology logical ? Are there any steps that could be added to better clarify the events or something that could be eliminated because it is either redundant or confusing?

• Optional Tweeting

Sound out the abbreviations in the tweet. Can you detect possible problems with accuracy based on incorrect pronunciation? Check the pronunciation of any words you question and then the About.com site for an appropriate abbreviation:

http://french.about.com/library/writing/bl-texting.htm

• Optional Tag

Do you like the tag chosen ? What does it add to the text ?

2. Révisez votre brouillon et préparez votre version finale.