{"id":24118,"date":"2016-07-26T05:30:05","date_gmt":"2016-07-26T03:30:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/?p=24118"},"modified":"2016-07-26T03:06:07","modified_gmt":"2016-07-26T01:06:07","slug":"zazie-dans-le-metro-et-ailleurs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/zazie-dans-le-metro-et-ailleurs\/","title":{"rendered":"Zazie dans le m\u00e9tro . . . et ailleurs !*"},"content":{"rendered":"

I finished a new livre <\/em>(book) on vacation last week\u00a0\u00e0 la plage<\/em> (at the beach).** Ok, it wasn\u2019t new-new, but it was new to me. Zazie dans le m\u00e9tro <\/em>(Zazie in the subway) is a 1959 novel by French author Raymond Queneau that was revolutionary in its use of language.<\/p>\n

\"Metro

One of the last art deco style metro entrances in Paris.<\/p><\/div>\n

Zazie<\/em> (a name created by Queneau) is a young girl on her first \u201cadventure\u201d in Paris with one goal in mind . . . to ride le m\u00e9tro<\/em> (the Paris subway). Unfortunately for her, as the novel opens, le m\u00e9tro est ferm\u00e9! <\/em>(the subway is closed!) Eh oui!<\/em>*** (Of course!) Le m\u00e9tro est ferm\u00e9 parce que les poin\u00e7onneurs sont en gr\u00e8ves\u00a0!<\/em> (The subway is shut down because the ticket men are on strike\u00a0!)****<\/p>\n

As we follow Zazie and a curious band of Parisians through a series of strange adventures around mid-century Paris, Queneau deploys word play, words borrowed from other languages, and abandons many of the rules of written French spelling and grammar to reflect le langage familier et l\u2019argot <\/em>(common speech and slang) that was used by the average Parisians of the day. I admit it was a bit of a challenge at first, but once you adapt to the phonetic representation of common French expressions, you can follow what turns out to be a rather interesting (if admittedly at times confusing!) story.<\/p>\n

In 1960, Zazie dans le m\u00e9tro<\/a><\/em> was adapted into a feature film by the French r\u00e9alisateur*****<\/em> (director), Luis Malle in case you prefer your literature sur le grand \u00e9cran<\/em> (on the big screen).<\/p>\n

This week\u2019s word on vocabulary: la langue<\/em> vs. le langage <\/em><\/p>\n

French has two words<\/a> for the English word “language”.<\/p>\n

Le langage<\/em> refers to the general idea of language – the concept, the constructs – that make up our ability as humans to communicate. Le langage peut \u00eatre \u00e9crit ou parl\u00e9<\/em>. (Language can be written or spoken.) Une langue<\/em> on the other hand, is the thing we use to communicate . . . the specific language we read, write, and speak . . .\u00a0 Like English . . . or le fran\u00e7ais<\/em> (note that in French you don\u2019t capitalize the name of languages . . . only nationalities when speaking of people as a group \u201cles Fran\u00e7ais<\/em>\u201d. But watch out, when you\u2019re using it as an adjective to describe someone (elle est fran\u00e7aise<\/em>\/she is Fench; Pierre est fran\u00e7ais<\/em>\/Pierre is French) you don\u2019t capitalize.<\/p>\n

* \u2026 and elsewhere! <\/em>Tune in next week to see where else Zazie turns up!<\/p>\n

** I love vacations at the beach along the southern coast of Maine. Towns like Ogunquit, Maine with its rocky coast, grand hotels, and cliff-side walks remind me of the wonderful vacations I spent along la Manche<\/em> (the English Channel) en Bretagne<\/a><\/em> (in Brittany).<\/p>\n

*** Eh oui!<\/em> is a very common French interjection. Don\u2019t confuse it with \u201cet oui<\/em>\u201d (and yes) which you will see used in certain situations to reinforce a positive response to certain questions.<\/p>\n

**** les <\/em>poin\u00e7onneurs<\/em> were responsable for checking passengers\u2019 tickets on the metro and punching them with a small hole punch. The famous French singer Serge Gainsbourg<\/a> famously sang about one from the Porte des Lilas<\/a><\/em> m\u00e9tro station.<\/p>\n