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From the latest book award to the next French gig in your area, stay in touch with bits of France in the UK.
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Researching social, human and regular sciences in French journals without leaving your home (almost)
These journals are great for students and researchers.
Persée is great tool that's available anywhere in the world. It was set up by the University of Lyon who regularly digitilises thousands of scientific journals.
Cairn is only accessible from the Institut français in London and a selection of other libraries in the UK. Cairn gives you access to hundreds of human and social science journals.
Annie Ernaux's 'La Place'
Tonight's Reading Group at La Mediatheque welcomes a text which transcends social classes. Read on to find out our culturetheque resources.
Calling all future Molières!
EMUE and lepetitjournal.com are launching a brand new competition for the next big French writer in the UK. Be in the chance to win a contract with a professional publisher!
Hommage to Stéphane Hessel
We are sad to hear that Stephane Hessel passed away on the 27th of February 2013. Culturethèque wishes to pay our respects with a dedicated blog.
International Partnerships in Business Schools conference
The International Partnerships in Business Schools, on how international partnerships in business schools help improve graduate profiles for the future job market, has been uploaded onto Culturethèque's Vimeo account so that it can be watched from abroad.
If you're in the UK, you can watch the conference on Culturethèque.
Le Journal de Delacroix - find it online
I was behind the desk in the library today, the physical one, not Culturethèque (I'm always behind the Culturethèque desk), and a man came to me with a very specific request.
"Do you have Delacroix's Journal?" he asked.
I looked it up in the library catalogue and found the Institut Français only has an audiobook of selected extracts. The eventually decided to borrow the CD but seemed disappointed. I asked him whether he'd searched online yet.
"No, no, that hadn't crossed my mind."
He put the audiobook in his bag and I carried on looking for open source versions of Delacroix's Journals. I found plenty.
I looked him up in the lists and found his email address, I emailed him my findings, but the email bounced.
That made me sad.
I have copy-pasted the email and links below, so that my brief frenzy of research was not in vain.
Ebook lovers
I hate those people on the tube, with their smug little noses in their smug little ereaders, while my poor finger muscles are exhausting themselves over bits of paper (bits of what?) and having to use two hands to get a story into my brain whilst juggling my bag and my coat and my book and my jealousy.
However, Culturethèque requires that I pass on some useful information. So I will, magnanimously, conceal my green-eyed anger with my reading spectacles, and get to the point.
Ebouquin is a blog in French for ereader owners. While I'm ranting, why not vent my angst at the creators of this website? They have cheekily undermined my usefulness by writing this fantastic blogpost about where you find ebooks for free on the internet, which is more comprehensive than mine.
Unesco Online Library
I am so excited right now. Apparently the whole world has heard of Unesco's Bibliothèque Numérique Mondiale. Have you ever looked for moss? It used to be one of my hobbies. I used to love hunting about for moss. And it goes like this, you pick pick pick, and then there's none, and you know where all the moss is. Well, I just found a whole load more moss.
What I mean is, this is yet more digitalised media for free online. In TIFF format, so, sorry epub/pdf lovers, no ereader-reading for you... but these are sumptuous books.
After a short browse, my two favourites are from China and from France.
French bloggers and their "bandes dessinées"
There are a lot of bloggers in France who publish some little comic strips as posts.
One of my favourites is "Kek". His strips are short, very funny and easy to understand, too.
He also published a complete comic strip available for free online.
Unfortunately, it hasn't been translated yet but given there are a lot of drawings...
Gallic Books Blog
There is a publishing house that prints translations of French contemporary fiction. They have a blog. They put some great music on there. They've got some great links (Culturethèque, obviously, but also Scott Pack's blog and The Big Green Bookshop). These are my favourite posts:
Adobe Digital Editions
If you don't live in the UK, or in the unlikely event that you've read all the contemporary fiction on Culturethèque, here's a link to more free .epubs for your ereaders. Epubs are a format that a lot of ebooks come in.
Adobe Digital Editions is free software. You have to use it in order to read most of Culturethèque's contemporary fiction ebooks, and some of the ebooks in the classics section.
Adobe Digital Editions epubs are compatible with Sony and Samsung ereaders. A full list of the ereaders that are compatible with Adobe Digital Editions can be found here. It does not include Amazon's Kindle, as Amazon has created its own Kindle format, nor does it contain any Apple device.
Rabelais online: reading the texts in medieval French
Simon McBurney is coming to the French Institute to talk about the bawdy and hilarious medieval French writer.
I'm going to do a few blogposts to help you find Rabelais online. This one is if you want to read the original texts.
Pantagruel, Le Tiers Livre, Le Quart Livre and a bunch of other works (including Gargantua) in their entirety in medieval French on Wikisource.
This incredible website, set up by the University of Virginia, has uploaded .tiffs of editions of Rabelais from the 1540's and 1550's. They's got Panta, Gargs and the 3rd,4th and 5th books.
There's also this website if you want to read Gargantua but you hate Wikisource (why would you hate Wikisource?), and this one for Pantagruel.
Rabelais online: The texts in English
Rabelais' top 5 works are all on Wikisource in translation. The same translation can be found on Gutenberg - the advantage there is that you can pick your format and read illustrated texts, but the low point is that only Pantagruel and Gargantua have been uploaded.
French Philosophers in Jest
Are you a little bit lazy, yet interested in having a quick recap on what French philosophers philosophise about? Today, I came across this website, and picked out the pages on Frenchies Camus, Sartre, Rousseau and
Foucault. My main reaction to most of the entries was "pfff - ha - pfff."
Tailored Texts
Nicolas (the author of this post) sent me a link to this fledgling website, Tailored Texts.
The idea is this: foreign language public domain texts are uploaded and commented on by the Tailored Texts community - user-generated lit crit, essentially, with handy translations. It is still quite small - the most discussed work is Voltaire's Candide with 2329 entries, that means 2329 little annotations to the text, and one user has submitted 2300 - but it looks like the beginning of something that could revolutionise literary commentary and the study of literary texts. The lay-out is not super enticing, but it uses wikis so it is maleable and suits its purpose.
Oxford's e-resources: The Ashmolean
Oxford gets money for interesting stuff. There are probably reasons why the town seems to have a bigger interesting-stuff budget than say, Wittersham, but I'm not going to go into them.
This is the first in a series of blogposts on how that money is put to use.
The Ashmolean museum was recently refurbished (and when they were rebuilding, some sneaky undergrads would break in and climb up onto the roof, for one of the best night views around).
The Ashmolean has updated their website too, with lots of works viewable online. Here's something French. Click on the image for higher resolution.
Les Autres Gens
Rosalie Blum is a very gentle little graphic novel, and, thanks to my job on Culturethèque, and our renewal of the graphic novel section, discovered that the author of Rosalie Blum, Camille Jourdy, contributed to this graphic novel collective.
Free Ebooks in Epub format
You can download them from the BNF's online library, Gallica, by clicking on this link.
Anouilh online
In terms of ebook, Anouilh is still heavily under copyright, so the best place to go looking is Culturetheque. We've got a Profil Hatier and a Fiche de Lecture.
Project Gutenberg
I've blogged about Gutenberg before, but people seem to forget about it.
It's a wonderful website for public domain works, and currently has 1997 ebooks in French.
Gutenberg ebooks are Kindle compatible, as well as PDF, EPUB and HTML options, amongst others.
Have a look at the works of Maupassant, Balzac, Proust, Gide...the list continues.
Beckett's Waiting for Godot Online
There is a lot of Godot commentary (both on Culturetheque and online in general), so in this blogpost, I have focussed on supplying you with the text in English online here, and here.
Read on to watch the play staged as a film, in English.
BACHI-BOUZOUK.
I have a bad memory. I rarely watch TV. Yet I still remember how, a decade ago, I paused when Mc Solar, the French rap singer was asked during an interview what was his favourite word.
He replied...
BACHI-BOUZOUK.
To start with, there is something strikingly conforting, in the sound of this word : the shape of the syllable seems to grow bigger as the word drives to a close. Ba Chi Bou Zouk. What makes this word so peculiar to the ears of the French (or at least to mine) is the mix of unusual sounds, the blend of ‘x’ and ‘z’ and ‘k’.
Nice: The Highlight of the French Rivera
The French Rivera, also known if the French language as the Côte d'Azur, is a compilation of scenic and beautiful cities, towns and villages along the Mediterranean coastline of the southeast corner of the country of France. Each exclusive spot in the French Rivera has its own special feeling about it. The picturesque and historical town of Nice is one of these locales along the Rivera that should not be missed.
L'arrache-Coeur
The reading group at the Institut français this evening is on Boris Vian's novel L'arrache-Coeur. We've got the audiobook on Culturethèque, as well as other audiobooks of Vian's works and ebooks about his work.
Here's a Duke Ellington playlist on Grooveshark to get you in the mood.
You've also got L'écume des jours online for free in its entirety, as well as songs and poems. Extracts from the film are on youtube.
Read on to learn more about Boris Vian and Jazz.
Bloguons français !
In today's times, we talk the talk of 'blog'. If you want to speak a different blog language, read on!
Le qu’en dira t-on
When I was a kid, I would hear ‘grown ups’ using this phrase and I would immediately fall into some sort of day dream where I would figure out its meaning. What I often pictured was a somewhat surrealist image of a ‘candy’ raton (a young rat, or a raccoon, un raton laveur). But I never managed to understand what ‘candy’ (or qu’en dit-) could actually be. This part remained the unknown figure of the equation until I discovered that ‘candy raton’ was actually spelled ‘qu’en dira t-on’. And then, a new lexical universe opened up!
How are human beings shaped by both heredity and our environment?
Have you been watching the BBC's new period drama The Paradise? Were you surprised, as I was, to find out that it was based on Emile Zola's novel Au Bonheur des Dames, part of his famous 20-volume cycle, Les Rougon-Macquart - a natural and social history of one family during the Second Empire (1852-70) under Emperor Napoleon III?
Read ebooks online. Read them here, and there, and also here and there.
I like the feel of paper. I'm no glue-sniffer but I'll always appreciate the smell of a new binding. Not that I'm against musty books. I love musty books. But I remember the days, not so long ago, when at quarter to three in the morning, I would get home, realise I had an essay to hand in within the next half day and knuckle down to some last minute reading, analysing and extensive quoting. That's when I really love ebooks.
Culturethèque is not the only repository of French books online, these are my top four websites (other than Culturethèque).
The secret room at the Musée D'Orsay
London does not have: the Musée du Louvre, the Musée d'Orsay, the Musée Picasso, the Centre Pompidou, the Musée Rodin, the Musée Carnavalet or the Musée de Cluny.
What do I do for Carolingian artefacts when I'm stuck in England? How do I get my fill of Boltanski when all I've got is the Gilbert & George championning from the Tate? There's no replacement for a casual stroll (especially in the gardens of the Musée Rodin in summer) but there is the internet.
Here is a selection of online virtual tours of museums in Paris.
Censorship
Aurore told me about this blog where you send in a picture of yourself and a book. The websites says it has two aims: sharing ideas for what to read, and the other is praising freedom of speech. Topical. And what's more...
Artfinder
I spoke to someone who used to work at Artfinder. I checked it out and the website lived up to my expectations. It is better than all the previous art websites I have mentioned on this blog. You can make your own gallery - be your own curator for your own little online museum. Good quality pictures and enormous variety. Here's an August Rodin tour.
Rabelais online: multimedia.
It turns out that dying about five hundred years ago does not exclude being all over the internet. We could say, "Yo, François, you're on Librivox, Dailymotion and Youtube," and he'd probably say, "what? that's awesome, I love user-generated content."
Below are links to a film, some podcast, an audiobook, a conference, all of which you can get online for free.
Blogs about French films
Four blogs that talk about French films (among others):
Left-field cinema: "not film criticism, it's film recommendation and analysis"
Cellophane tears: from a film fan who is "trying to watch at least two films a week "
World Cinema: pretty thorough in the number of films it touches on, but not a lot of depth.
Criterion: does a lot of analysis. It's not so much a blog, as a shop, but this essay by good ol' Slavoj is entertaining.
Fixing clocks in tunnels
The Parisian underground has sewers, dead people, a metro, and, being Parisian, artists. I read about this when I was at school in the early 2000s in Paris. A friend sent me an article from Wired magazine on the topic, though I should add that this is by no means "new."
Shakespeare vs. Molière
In the boxing ring this week: Shakespeare vs. Molière
Grab your moleskine notebooks and jump inside the time machine - c'est parti!
300 years of Rousseau: the Philosopher of the Enlightenment
Jean Jacques Rousseau was born in Geneva in 1712, renowned for his famous work called ‘The Social Contract’. Rousseau died in 1778 and in 1794 his remains were taken to the Panthéon in Paris by French revolutionaries.
La Flame de la Manche
The English say: ‘you wear your heart on your sleeve.’
The French say: you raise your sleeve to protest.”
They collect their placards, and yell, "prenez vos désirs pour des réalités!”
Among both the British and the French, we see this passion burning…quite literally, in many cases.
Keats vs. Camus
Do you think with your head or with your heart?
Well, you can have both with the English Romantic or the Absurd philosopher. These two gentlemen turned the world upside-down with the magic of words and language. This week, please have to hand an English tea pot and a scone or a cigarette and a trilby as these literary gods guide us through the deepest darkest depths of our minds…or do they?
Why did the renard lose his cheese?
Wit, sophistication and a whole lot of imagination. As curiosity kicks in, we must ask: who invented the idea of haute grammaire? Who was a master of prose and verse? And who has a planet named after them? Jean de La Fontaine and Rudyard Kipling open our eyes to the world of the wilderness; regardless whether we are young or old.
Video Games Time machine
After introducing the re-opening of The Institut du monde arabe museum, I am going to present another sort of museum: an online one.
Video games time machine http://www.dailymotion.com/sas/video-games-time-machine is a virtual museum dedicated to video games, that has been launched by MO5.COM, in partnership with Dailymotion.
MO5.COM is a non-profit organization whose mission is to preserve and to broadcast to the general public digital heritage.
The non-profit organization brings together collectors, heritage conservators, specialized journalists, enthusiasts, engineers, teachers, researchers, high-school students, students and young people from all over.
Flaubert vs. Wilde
Question: who would apologise for being too “maimed by extravagance”, and who would else would say “exuberance is better than taste”? Why it is no other than witty Wilde and flamboyant Flaubert. This week, we will need elocution, a dictionary and a touch of dapper as we float inside the minds of these two whizz kids...or should I say virtuosos of language...
Legal free books, films, music and audiobooks online: the top 5 search-it-first websites.
I've been working here over a year now, and blogging for the same amount of time. This blogpost is a little summing up of my favourite rivals to Culturethèque.
1) Free books: Project Gutenberg.
Tip: browse by language.
2) Free books, audiobooks and copyright free downloadable films: The Internet Archive.
Tip: search by number of downloads - it'll give you the free items first.
3) Free audiobooks online: librivox.
Volunteer read public domain books.
4) Streaming music: Grooveshark.
No audio adverts, just years worth of music.
5) Free texts online: Wikisource.
On your marks...
Are you in need for some serious French culture training? Are you a gold medalist in French films? Then why not join the Médiathèque or Culturethèque Olympic team for the brand new READ-athon.
The Institut francais invites 5 to 11 year old children to its enchanted Library during the South Ken Kids Festival
As you already know, Culturethèque is the digital platform of the Institut français and is managed by the library team of the Institut.
For the 15th anniversary of the South Ken Kids Festival, the children's library of the Institut and Me Books invite you on the 24th and 25th November in their Enchanted Library for free iPad secrets with Me Books, character vocal training and much more literary fun!
Ruskin vs. Hugo
This week: a true battle between modernity and tradition - the candlestick versus the light bulb.
Gallimard
2011 is the centenary year for the French publishing house Gallimard.
The Bibliothèque Nationale de France is celebrating this anniversary in an exhibition that goes back through the history of Gallimard.
You can view some exceptional pieces, as well as unpublished documents, such as manuscripts, photographs, correspondence, reading cards, posters and audiovisual archives from the 22nd of March until the 3rd of July 2011 at the National French Library in Paris. For English residents, you can see what's on offer here.
Iscribe, youscribe, wescribe for youscribe.
Youscribe is a plateform created last April by Pirlot de Corbion, former manager of Chapitre.com.
This plateform allows you to deliver your written productions and make yourself known, sell your documents and share your views with the community. You can also read thousands of digital publications online.
Aimé Césaire entre au Panthéon
A national tribute was paid on Wednesday 6th of April 2011 to the poet and political figure Aimé Césaire who died in 2008.
Aimé Césaire (1913-2008) was a poet and playwright from Martinique.
He was a powerful voice of « négritude » and decolonisation.
He is being honoured at the Panthéon with a national tribute and a ceremony by the French Republic.
One of the films I would most like to see ... never got made.
There's a 2009 documentary about Henri-Georges Clouzot's Inferno.
You can read the Guardian article about the documentary about the film, you can listen or read the Leftfield cinema blog or you can have a peek at this incredible extract from Clouzot's footage.
