French

I’ve been neglecting to say something

January 25, 2003 by Michael Boyle

I’ve been neglecting to say something

else for ages, out of a fear that it would be misinterpreted. But today seems like the day. First off, I strongly recommend that anyone who speaks French, well or poorly, should go and visit Les coups de langue de la grande rousse. At the same time, I must admit that I find the concept implicit in Dolores’ site simultaneously funny and frustrating. The site is based on the idea that there is one correct word for everything, and a proper way to use that word in practice.

The very idea that there could be one correct English is incomprehensible to many, if not most, who are proficient in the language. And the idea of forming – and listening to – a body who would make such decisions? It could never happen.

The frustrating part is that attached to the idea that there is a single correct French is the idea that language determines culture, which is, I believe, precisely backwards.

You don’t have to be in Montreal

November 8, 2002 by Michael Boyle

You don’t have to be in Montreal

to have a quintessentially Montreal experience, as meg hourihan described yesterday. “The cheeseman switched right over to English from that moment on. I insisted on French. Back and forth we went, but I wouldn’t budge a linguistical inch.”

I received an interesting

May 17, 2001 by Michael Boyle

email yesterday:

This Friday May 18th, in an unprecedented gesture, the Union des crivains du Qubec will present an evening of ENGLISH poetry and literature in performance.
The show is entitled “Howls and Whispers (Souffles et hurlements)” and it highlights a remarkable cultural breakthrough that has occurred in the spoken word scene in Montreal.
Due to pioneer work by a list of names on both sides of the linguistic divide, the scene for performance literature has become a place where English and French performers know each other, work together and share an audience – an altogether amazing event when one considers that poetry is probably the most language-specific cultural activity one can find.

The show will feature a panoply of the most interesting writers and performers in the city, including Cat Kidd and jack beets, Fortner Anderson, and musician Tom Walsh – all in one of the best locations in town.
[ahem – I should have mentioned that location – it’s at the Lion D’Or, on Ontario St. E. Did you know that Ontario St had that name before the province of Ontario did?]

Hour and Voir

April 15, 2001 by Michael Boyle

, sister weeklies here, have also consolidated their coverage of the Summit of the Americas, and added a place for people at the event to submit testimonials. The page is in French and English, which is refreshing (at least to me). I honestly don’t know much about Voir’s coverage, but both Stewart and current news editor MJ Milloy have written a lot about this stuff over the years in Hour. Disclosure – both are friends of mine.

If you’re looking for

April 15, 2001 by Michael Boyle

FTAA news in the coming weeks, the Montreal Gazette has (of course) devoted a special section of its site to the event, which is coming up quickly. The quality of the Gazoo’s coverage is likely to be pretty good at best – except that one of their columnists will be a must-read. Lyle Stewart has been covering this sort of thing for most of his career, and more than anyone locally (in French or English) has developed the story over the past few years at both the Gazette and Hour, a weekly for whom he used to write.