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Memory, slavery, television

Fictional représentations of slavery on TV are usually about the US, where slavery is more recent. But not this one . https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/the-long-song-tv-review-episode-one-hayley-atwell-lenny-henry-a8688416.html
Publié par John Mullen à l'adresse 6:13 am No comments: Monday, December 17, 2018

Bad news from the UK

Publié par John Mullen à l'adresse 11:43 am No comments: Last seminar historiography/memory studies/ww1

Wednesday 19th December 3pm Salle A202.
On last week's blog the date was wrong.
Publié par John Mullen à l'adresse 7:55 am No comments: 
The idea of progress

There are a number of key moments in the history of scientific progress over the last few hundred years. We often hear about new factories and Fordism, or about transport and railways. Communications though are just as important, and here is one highlight from communication history : the first transatlantic cable, allowing for the very first time instantaneous communication across the world, by telegraph. Before you click on the link to the documentary, guess the date of the first transatlantic cable.

Publié par John Mullen à l'adresse 2:54 pm No comments: 
A historic front page Publié par John Mullen à l'adresse 2:32 pm No comments: Theresa May

What next ? An explanation
Publié par John Mullen à l'adresse 5:52 am No comments: Tuesday, December 11, 2018

Thème agrégation : grammar time

You have got through about two thirds of your translation classes. You need to find a few hours ot go through them again, with your Grammaire explicative de la langue anglaise, look at the grammar mistakes you made, and study the grammar book until you are confident you would not make that particular mistake again.

The most dangerous attitude is to think that translating is a matter of feeling, and that if you practice it your feeling will solve the different problems.
Publié par John Mullen à l'adresse 7:13 am No comments: 
Suggested translation passage from Hugo

Victor Hugo

In which the bishop finds himself in the presence of an unknown light.

At a time shortly after the date of the letter quoted in previous pages, he did one thing which, if one were to believe the unanimous opinion of the town’s population, was even more risk-laden than his stroll across the bandit-infested mountains. In the countryside close by Digne, there was a man who lived apart. This man, let us at once say that unsavoury word, had previously been an elected member of the National  Convention.[i] His name was G.
G., of the Convention was spoken of in the limited circles of Digne with something akin to horror[ii]. A member of the Convention, can you imagine that ? That sort of person existed in those times when people called each other “tu” and adressed others as “citizen”. This man was practically a monster. He had not voted for the death of the King, but almost. He was close to being a regicide. He had inspired terror. How could it be that after the return of the rightful princes, the man had not been tried by a provost’s court. They would not have had him beheaded – one must show clemency, admittedly – but a good lifelong banishment would have been pronounced. They would have made an example of him, indeed, and so on and so forth. What is more, he was an atheist, too, like they all are. One would have thought they were geese gossiping about a vulture.
And was G. a vulture, then? Indeed he was, if one were to judge by his wild attitude in isolating himself. Since he had not voted in favour of the death of the King, he had not figured in the decrees of exile and had been able to remain in France.[iii]
He lived three quarters of an hour away from the town, far from any hamlet, far from any path, in who knows what kind of lost refuge in the wildest of valleys. He kept there, it was said, a sort of field, a hole in fact, a den. He had no neighbours; there were not even passers-by. Since he had been living in that valley, the path which led there had disappeared beneath the grass. The place was spoken of as was the house of the executioner.
And yet the bishop reflected, and from time to time looked at the horizon where a small wodd of trees marked the valley of the ex-member of the Convention, and he said “there is a soul who dwells there alone.”
And in the depth of his thoughts, he added “His bishop ought to pay him a visit”.

Monument to the National Convention in Paris in the Pantheon [i] I am sure you have forgotten the history https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Convention
[ii] I liked « something akin to horror ».
[iii] The history is here https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loi_du_12_janvier_1816
Publié par John Mullen à l'adresse 9:04 am No comments: Thursday, December 06, 2018

Home rule in Ireland - an important debate

On the hundredth anniversary of the 1914 Home Rule Act, an Irish television station organized this debate. Should the Home Rule Act be celebrated as a constitutional advance which could have worked out, or seen as a dead end policy which was fortunately soon replaced by a more radical strategy? Our guests do not agree; there is nothing like a consensus; and if you can measure and describe their differing reasons, that is a great start.

Publié par John Mullen à l'adresse 9:57 am No comments: MEEF More on the British Empire in India

A much more establishment view of the British Empire is available in this documentary. The images are very impressive.

Publié par John Mullen à l'adresse 9:51 am No comments: M1 LEA last class

Just click here for the Mp3

Here are a couple more links on the subject

A documentary on Cable Street

A documentary on Rock against Racism
Publié par John Mullen à l'adresse 9:33 am No comments: Finding time to study when you don't have time to study

The site is here https://www.zamzar.com/

It only works in English.

Here is an example of the resulting Mp3 just click here Monday, December 03, 2018

mémoire, héritage, ruptures - India

Obviously for Britain, one aspect of remembering heritage is commected with the British Empire. How should it be remembered and taught, in particular in England today where an important minority are descendants of Indians? This discussion between two Indian intellectuals about the history of British India opens up some of these questions.

Publié par John Mullen à l'adresse 7:09 pm No comments: Introduction to research

If there are any MEEF students who, for their "mémoire" in M2 would be interested in looking at some aspect of historical reality TV shows in Britain, do get in touch.

Here is some info https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Historical_reality_television_series

Here is an example (but there are dozens, from different centuries and with differing approaches). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9B1qevOK8U

I would think it was a subject which it would be easy to use subsequently in collège.
Publié par John Mullen à l'adresse 8:02 am No comments: Today in the UK

Publié par John Mullen à l'adresse 6:30 am No comments: How many