Poetry and language in France from Montpellier to Paris
Exploring the influences on the poetry of France from the perspective of a writer inheriting a piece of the Lebanese diaspora
Esabella George '25, Montpellier, France to Paris, France June 16 to July 11
The purpose for this project and central questions regarded my own family's history, specifically my grandmother's childhood and youth spent in France. Arriving in an entirely new city in the South of France, Montpellier, I was embraced by a family that installed the importance of survival of language, and challenged me to communicate in the language that has sort of been "lost" in my lifetime, or too "hard" to be able to put actual time into. The purpose of this project was to learn how I can dedicate time and chase my curiosities about myself and my story, the one that pre-exists and will exist beyond my lifetime. Every choice we make now will impact future generations, and I hope this exploration into my family's homeland will outlive any singular intention of my own.
With intensive language class in this small French city, I developed my French language skills enough to further support my endeavor into Paris, France, where I could dive deep into French poetry, specifically Diaspora Lebanese poetry in France.
My host brothers's joint birthday party, with my three Swedish roommates, all studying at Alliance Francaise, Montpellier
One of the main intentions of my journey was additionally to produce long poem-form pieces about my experience. As the Lebanese and French poet Sabah al-Kharrat Zwayn put it “I constantly interrogate language…questioning of my own existence. I am obsessed with an ever-recurring triad: language/space/time.” To me, to “interrogate” language is to be challenged by it, provoking the questioning of my own identity. In challenging myself to use the French language as my primary tool for communication, intertwining the language with my mother tongue in poem form, I can create a hybridity of language in these poems.
Some amazing Lebanese food all over the South of France. This became my favorite spot on my way to afternoon class.
Here is my host mom, Nazia, and my roommate for my entire stay, Erika. This was the morning we said goodbye, Erika had been their for an entire 8 weeks so it was extra emotional.
Fête de la Musique is a festival throughout France, showcasing the music of France. The festival celebrates many cultures and types of music with concerts, and dance performances, the entire event is continuous, and it is bursting out into the street; I was so lucky to have been there for this moment.
Academic findings/results/impact:
After my time spent in Montpellier, I was filled with an immense sense of familiarity with the life of a French family. The family that I stayed with is of Lebanese and Algerian descent from their mother's side, and so I got to experience a household that has grown up within a synthesis of the Arabic language as well as in a community within France that practices Islamic religion. Just prior to my stay, my host mom's father was staying with the family and all of their guests (students at the various French institutes in Montpellier), and, although, I did not have the chance to meet this generation, the stories that they shared about the father and the excitement he felt to be around young people learning a new language. It was all so fulfilling.
There were plenty of reasons why my classroom of 13 was learning French, some, like me, have French heritage, others are retired, wanting to pursue a lifelong goal of learning a new language, and others were studying French language in order to attend universities in France, a general language proficiency necessary for international students to begin classes in France. I found myself drawn to my new friend, Carl, from Norway. He also has a French grandmother, and he challenged the discomforts and "embarrassments" I felt for my lack of proficiency...He made me feel like my goal to recover my severed connection to the homeland was not an impossible dream or something that is too late to do. A thread throughout my time in France, was to him, for he too was disappointed in himself for not speaking French at a younger age, despite having spent so much time there growing up.
This friendship has impacted me tremendously, and his voice sticks in my head as he inspired me to never stop trying, to further this dream; we both want to live in France someday, after such an impactful and emotional stay. These are the reasons why I am committed to working toward complete language fluency.
