Questions tagged [french-language]
Questions about works of literature which were originally written in the French language, regardless whether they were written or published in France or elsewhere.
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What is the English word for "tableau" in the context of the theatre?
This question was initially posted on ell.stackexchange.com but was poorly received, perhaps I'll have better luck here.
In French theater (at least in the 19th century, I'm not talking about ...
user22153
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What is the meaning of the brown flower in Condé's "The Gospel According to the New World"?
The central character of The Gospel According to the New World is Pascal, who may (or may not) be the son of God. At his christening, his foster mother, Eulalie, is given a flower by a visitor (who ...
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Stageplay adaptation of the Count of Monte Cristo
I have found mentions for at least a dozen stageplay adaptations of Le Comte de Monte Cristo online, but I wasn't able to find a copy of any of the dialogues. Is there a published version somewhere (...
user22153
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What is the meaning of "chabeen" in Conde's "The Gospel According to the New World"?
In Maryse Conde's final novel, The Gospel According to the New World, an artist named Roro Manigas is described as having painted a series entitled Virgin and Child:
where one canvas represented a ...
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What are the "eighteen methods of arranging Minerva's tresses"?
In Jules Verne's Around the World in 80 Days, Jean Passepartout, Phileas Fogg's new servant, is introduced. We're given a description, which includes a descrption of his hair:
As for Jean, also known ...
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How is 11:22 four minutes slow if it's actually 11:29?
In the first chapter of Around the World in 80 Days, Phileas Fogg meets Jean Passepartout, his new servant, and they introduce themselves. As part of this, Fogg asks Jean what time it is:
“...
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What's the meaning of this sentence from "L'enfant noir" by Camera Laye?
I'm reading Camara Laye's novel L'enfant noir, translated in English as The African Child or The Dark Child. At the end of chapter 5, one can read:
Mais le monde bouge, le monde change, et le mien ...
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Which saying or proverb is Stendhal referring to in this passage from "Le rouge et le noir"?
The following passage from chapter XVI of Book I of the novel Le rouge et le noir (The Red and the Black) by Stendhal refers to "un dicton de province", that is, at some kind of saying or ...
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Where in "À la recherche du temps perdu" does the main character indicate that he would be named after the author?
Over the years, people have asked me whether the main character of Remembrance of Things Past has a name. It is some forty years since I read it. I thought I read somewhere in the three volumes that ...
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A quotation by Jean Bernard
Jean Bernard [1907-2006] was a famous French medical doctor, also a University Professor and a researcher. He was a member of the Académie Française and wrote several books, both on scientific topics ...
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What is the source of this cheesy quote?
Many years ago, I came across this quote regarding Switzerland:
Quelle pays sanguinaire, même le fromage est plein de trous.
What a bloody country, even the cheese is full of holes.
I seem to ...
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When or where did Gustave Flaubert say that Alexander Pushkin's work was "dull"?
Tommaso Landolfi wrote that Flaubert, speaking about Pushkin, told to Ivan Turgenev: "Il est plat, votre poète." What are the sources?
(plat, per Dictionnaire Le Robert, figuratively refers ...
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What is going on with Edmée's marriage settlement?
In Colette's Chéri, I do not understand what is going on with the marriage settlement. The eponymous hero reports to his lover, Léa, that his fianceé's mother, Marie-Laure, had wanted Chéri and her ...
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Why is the eponymous Chéri exoticized in colonialist terms?
TW: Quotations from the original and the translation include racially insensitive terms.
In Colette's Chéri, shortly after the ageing courtesan Léa has taken the eponymous teenager as a lover, she is ...
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Did Voltaire say, "I’m not a believer, but I prefer my barber to be a Christian"?
I've been haunted by a quote from my teenage years that goes something like,
"I’m not a believer, but I prefer my barber to be a Christian, even more when he’s using his razor on my neck."
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