About Cosmopolitan, Glamour and "rallyes"

Sometimes, I'm just tired of taking courses all day, looking at my computer and reading books so much I begin to mix up all the words. So I just go buy some stupid magazine like Cosmopolitan or Glamour. It is more effective than any aspirin pills. It can be useful too, when you are really depressed and feeling ugly. It has the strange super-power to make better the mood of a depressed person.

In addition, by buying Glamour, I remember a friend that was obsessed with it. In fact she was obsessed by fashion but each month she would buy Glamour and Vogue and discuss all the clothes, and new trends. It became sort of funny, because each month when she got the magazine, she would bring it at school and every friend would ask her to lend it to her. So in the end, she still brought it at school but she showed it only to her closest friends. Everytime someone was coming, she hided it. And it was really funny to look at.

She acted as if fashion was vital. She was always living according to trends, buying tons new clothes every seasons. Talking about her, just make me thinking about another thing. Do you know what are "rallyes"? As I am coming from a little town nearly in the countryside, I didn't heard about it before Highschool. But in the school there were alot of girls coming from Versailles and that were taking part in these "rallyes". It seems that for them rallyes were one of the coolest thing ever. For me that was looking from outside, it was more like a gathering of all the teenagers of the families of the healthy part of versailles. In fact many people of these rallyes marry together. It is a kind of circle. There still are some in Paris too.

When I first heard about it, it surprised me a lot because I assimilated it to a gathering of privileged people like it was for aristocracy during centuries. I thought nothing like that existed anymore. I was maybe too naive at that time. But even if girls taking part in it were always so proud of it, it always disturbed me a lot.

People living near Versailles like to make fun of the conservative people coming from rich, old families of Versailles. That is the caricature of the "Versaillaise" family. But Versailles has got, like Paris, its "jet set". And I'm not sure it's a good thing.

Artwork by Kazuya Minekura

Writer's block

Today I have got a so called "writer's block". And even more terrible I didn't want to write. Usually I just talk about what we discussed in the week with friends. But this week I just hadn't anything to say. Furthermore I can't speak of anything related to the campus, it just makes me depressed.

So I decided to speak about writer's block to avoid it. In French it is much more poetic, it's called "syndrome de la page blanche". I took a look at the wikipedia page, there there are even a lot of scientific and very serious theories to explain it. The problem is that these theories don't really help the poor writers experimenting writer's block when all they want is to find a cure. Like me.

In addition, it is said that writer's block "can be closely related to depression and anxiety two mood disorders that reflect environmentally caused or spontaneous changes in the brain's frontal lobe". Very comforting.

At the same time it sounds so true. It fits perfectly what we have to bear at Sciences-po Le Havre. Depression and anxiety are two states of mind that overwhelm the average student of Sciences-po when he has worked for 2 full months already, has 3 galops d'essai coming, only one week of holidays and when he just learned that the people from the administration want to cut off half of his week of holidays because there are 2 people coming to the CCI during this week and that it 'll be terrible for his future if he misses these 2 so-important-and-interesting-and-edifying people. In fact the student is so exhausted that he doesn't want to stay in Le Havre, he just wants Sciences-po to leave him alone, so that he can go home and find emotional support in his family.

It's weird: somehow my post about writer's block just turned out in a claim to protect our holidays (in fact we already have so few that, if this goes on, a SciencesPo-student-with-holidays will soon become one of the many "critically endangered species".)

Artwork by Kazuya Minakura in "Salty Dog III" artbook

How to ruin a week

I was in a pretty good mood last week, and even last week-end. Visiting Caen on Saturday was fun. And on Sunday I slept, watched D.Gray Man and looked at the snow falling. So it wasn't a bad week-end at all.
But the week that came after started badly. On Monday on the way to the CCI, I sprained my ankle. Just lightly, it didn't hurt but when I came back home in the evening, my ankle didn't look good. It was all swelled.
I couldn't go to the pharmacy, it was too late. It hurt all night and I really didn't sleep well.
On Tuesday I spent an awful day. I usually hate taking courses from 8am to 7pm: at the end of the day I am always drained, in a really bad mood and I still have a huge amount of homework.
But hopefully, I had time to get something for the pain and a contention bandage during the day.
Wednesday was also not a really happy day. We all revised earnestly a test of Politics & Societies that the teacher cancelled. She said (more or less): "A test? What test? There is no test today. Furthermore I said that it'll be a surprise test so I won't tell you the date." She wasn't really popular before that but I think it is even worst now.
And that made my week worst that it was. I hope it'll stop there otherwise I won't be able to take it.
And I need to sleep.
Sleep is the cure for everything and it even makes people more intelligent.
And I need to finish my speech for the English course. However I don't understand why the slogan of my candidate (Dennis Kucinich) is "Defend the Constitution". It is odd.
Artwork by Mikaël Bourgouin taken from cafésalé artbook.

Various information

1) The Silkroads Newsletter is now online at:
http://euro-asie.sciences-po.fr/newsletter.html
Thanks to the IT manager of the campus Olivier Rondeau.
Go take a look!!
2) From what I found, Hiroyuki Asada is actually a guy, so I was right.
3) I corrected mistakes in my former posts.

Artwork by Shigeki Maeshima.

Paul Celan, Todesfuge (Deathfugue)

I just want to put here the poem I talked about in the last post. The English translation is not by me. So no need to correct this post.
Just one comment: poems of Paul Celan are hardly translatable. It is not really obvious for this one but other of his poems just don't mean anything anymore when they are translated from German.

German: Todesfuge
Schwarze Milch der Frühe wir trinken sie abends
wir trinken sie mittags und morgens wir trinken sie nachts
wir trinken und trinken
wir schaufeln ein Grab in den Lüften da liegt man nicht eng
Ein Mann wohnt im Haus der spielt mit den Schlangen der schreibt
der schreibt wenn es dunkelt nach Deutschland
dein goldenes Haar Margarete
er schreibt es und tritt vor das Haus und es blitzen die Sterne
er pfeift seine Rüden herbei
er pfeift seine Juden hervor läßt schaufeln ein Grab in der Erde
er befiehlt uns spielt auf nun zum Tanz
Schwarze Milch der Frühe wir trinken dich nachts
wir trinken dich morgens und mittags wir trinken dich abends
wir trinken und trinken
Ein Mann wohnt im Haus der spielt mit den Schlangen der schreibt
der schreibt wenn es dunkelt nach Deutschland
dein goldenes Haar Margarete
Dein aschenes Haar Sulamith
wir schaufeln ein Grab in den Lüften da liegt man nicht eng
Er ruft stecht tiefer ins Erdreich ihr einen ihr andern singet und spielt
er greift nach dem Eisen im Gurt er schwingts seine Augen sind blau
stecht tiefer die Spaten ihr einen ihr anderen spielt weiter zum Tanz auf
Schwarze Milch der Frühe wir trinken dich nachts
wir trinken dich mittags und morgens wir trinken dich abends
wir trinken und trinken
ein Mann wohnt im Haus dein goldenes Haar Margarete
dein aschenes Haar Sulamith er spielt mit den Schlangen
Er ruft spielt süßer den Tod der Tod ist ein Meister aus Deutschland
er ruft streicht dunkler die Geigen dann steigt ihr als Rauch in die Luft
dann habt ihr ein Grab in den Wolken da liegt man nicht eng
Schwarze Milch der Frühe wir trinken dich nachts
wir trinken dich mittags der Tod ist ein Meister aus Deutschland
wir trinken dich abends und morgens wir trinken und trinken
der Tod ist ein Meister aus Deutschland sein Auge ist blau
er trifft dich mit bleierner Kugel er trifft dich genau
ein Mann wohnt im Haus dein goldenes Haar Margarete
er hetzt seine Rüden auf uns er schenkt uns ein Grab in der Luft
er spielt mit den Schlangen und träumet der Tod ist ein Meister aus Deutschland
dein goldenes Haar Margarete
dein aschenes Haar Sulamith

English: Deathfugue
Black milk of daybreak we drink it at nightfall
we drink it at noon in the morning we drink it at night
drink it and drink it
we are digging a grave in the sky it is ample to lie there
A man in the house he plays with the serpents he writes
he writes when the night falls to Germany your golden hair Margarete
he writes it and walks from the house the stars glitter he whistles his dogs up
he whistles his Jews out and orders a grave to be dug in the earth
he commands us strike up for the dance
Black milk of daybreak we drink you at night
we drink in the mornings at noon we drink you at nightfall
drink you and drink you
A man in the house he plays with the serpents he writes
he writes when the night falls to Germany your golden hair Margarete
Your ashen hair Shulamith we are digging a grave in the sky it is ample to lie there
He shouts stab deeper in earth you there and you others you sing and you play
he grabs at the iron in his belt and swings it and blue are his eyes
stab deeper your spades you there and you others play on for the dancing
Black milk of daybreak we drink you at nightfall
we drink you at noon in the mornings we drink you at nightfall
drink you and drink you
a man in the house your golden hair Margarete
your ashen hair Shulamith he plays with the serpents
He shouts play sweeter death's music death comes as a master from Germany
he shouts stroke darker the strings and as smoke you shall climb to the sky
then you'll have a grave in the clouds it is ample to lie there
Black milk of daybreak we drink you at night
we drink you at noon death comes as a master from Germany
we drink you at nightfall and morning we drink you and drink you
a master from Germany death comes with eyes that are blue
with a bullet of lead he will hit in the mark he will hit you
a man in the house your golden hair Margarete
he hunts us down with his dogs in the sky he gives us a grave
he plays with the serpents and dreams death comes as a master from Germany
your golden hair Margarete
your ashen hair Shulamith.
Artwork by Asada Hiroyuki.

German pawaaaa!!

My mood improved a lot this week. I put a happier picture.

I rested more and worked less than last week. I think that the people saying that sleep can make people intelligent are right.

What did I want to talk about in this post?

Yeah, first I wanted to say that German is a beautiful language (yes, it is!!) and the people that don't agree just never heard a real German person (except the Bavarian and Austrian ones, their way of speaking can be compared to Scottish or Irish people in English, just terribly hard to understand with a weird accent) talking or they never read Goethe in German so I don't consider them able to judge.

I really wanted to say that because I'm really (really!!) pissed off by (how could I explain it?) the indifference of some people that will say to you that Germany is really no fun, just for the pleasure they get to oppose you. In other cases, you just get the feeling that because they are not interested in it, they consider that it is not worth to be liked. It is really weird. Germany and German culture are sure still not as popular as the English or American ones.

It is the important statement that is stuck into my head for some months now. I just happened to have spent something like 8 years in a French-German elementary school and then French-German High School and I am really surprised how French people just don't know anything about German culture. Even though Germany is a neighbouring country, and you can get in Berlin within 1h30 with the plane (only when the airport's (Air france's in fact) staff is not on strike, otherwise you can wait more than 8 hours to get on your flight. And believe me, it's really boring: there's nothing to do in an airport apart from shopping in really expensive high-class shops. You can't even sleep because all seats have really annoying armrests.)

In fact, I like the German past culture better than the German present one. Germany (and Austria) had great writers and poets. Goethe of course, all the philosophers from enlightement (Aufklärung), but not only. I like people like Novalis, Heinrich Heine (Read the Lorelei poem!!), Bertold Brecht (with Mother Courage), Süskind, Arthur Schnitzler (from the time of the Austrian Empire) and others.

My favourite ones would be Stefan Zweig, Robert Musil and the poet Paul Celan. The first one of these authors I hope you know him at least by name (a clue: he wrote The World of Yesterday). I like the book of the second one titled The Confusions of Young Torless that I studied in German class (there are few books that I studied in German class that I actually enjoyed maybe it's because I sort of didn't like the teacher that I had for the last 3 years, still now I think it's a miracle I put up with him 3 years long). And the third one wrote a poem that I think is one of the most beautiful that I ever read (another is the Erlkönig of Goethe, I like the remixed version of Rammstein in the song Dalai Lama too).

Next I think that German way of thinking nowadays is pretty complicated . Here I only speak for myself, what I think resulted from what I saw and heard. German people, still today, are tied up first to the WWII and Nazi past and secondly to the period of the DDR. These two periods of time take a big part in the life of German people today. I think they are deeply traumatised by it.

(Primo Levi, Les naufragés et les rescapés, a good book with some clues about that)

In my High School it was just an obsession, every years we spoke about it, every years teachers explained again and again what happened. Maybe it's because of that German society is so stiff, far less "easy-going" or "relaxed" than the French society. But it is just some of my thoughts, nothing to take as truth.

Artwork by Miggy from the Robot anthology Nr.2.

www.wani.com/robot.php