Lecture breaks down complex French language

A recent lecture suggested that French may be more than just the language of romance.

With “French: A Logical Language And Issues Of Translation,” held last night in Barnard’s Milbank Hall, Julie Hayes of the University of Massachusetts Amherst looked at the long history of representation of the French language. She described that vision of the language—which she terms “perfectly clear, logical, and pure”—and explained how it intersects with discussions of translation.

The event was part of Barnard’s lecture series Translation Across the Disciplines, chaired by Peter Connor. The event was also sponsored by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

In the talk, Hayes tackled a number of complex French literary questions such as, “Is the supposed transparency of French seen as a boon to translation, as many have claimed, or is the so-called purity of French an impediment, a ‘resistance to logic,’ as Jacques Derrida remarked?”

Hayes also discussed the works of French writers Édouard Glissant and Abdelkebir Khatibi to see “how the critique of French transparency provides the groundwork for new theories of translation.”

Hayes normally focuses on 18th century French literature, but this lecture more addressed the French language in general. “I’m not wearing my 18th century hat today,” she joked.

Almost 30 people attended the event, but a large chunk of them seemed to be from the French department. The room was beautiful with its green marble fireplace, but, in the end, Hayes, who spoke for nearly an hour, was lackluster.

She spoke too quickly and nearly every other sentence was in French, without a translation. For students who did not speak French, the lecture was impossible to understand.
The lecture was followed by a question and answer period. There were not many questions.

“I came here for my History of French Language class. My teacher recommended it. I thought the lecture was really interesting. It was difficult to understand, but it was great. It really connected well with my class,” Andrea Marshall, BC ’12, said.

“I thought it was really nice. It expressed the ideas of the authors very eloquently and beautifully,” Claire Heyison, BC ’13, said.

Heyison, who has gone to past Translation Across the Disciplines events before, added, “As someone who is potentially considering a foreign language major, these lectures are really helpful.”