Le Train de Nulle Part (The Train from Nowhere) is a 233-page Frenchnovel, written in 2004 by a French doctor of letters, Michel Dansel, under the pen name Michel Thaler. Notable as an example of constrained writing, the entire novel is written without a single verb.
In the novel's preface, Thaler called the verb an "invader, dictator, usurper of our literature". Considering the novel a step towards literature comparable with the artistic impact of Dadaism and surrealism, Thaler surmised, "The verb is like a weed in a field of flowers. You have to get rid of it to allow the flowers to grow and flourish. Take away the verbs and the language speaks for itself." Thaler went so far as to organize a well-attended, tongue-in-cheek funeral for the verb, at the Sorbonne in Paris.
Sample
Quelle aubaine! Une place de libre, ou presque, dans ce compartiment. Une escale provisoire, pourquoi pas! Donc, ma nouvelle adresse dans ce train de nulle part: voiture 12, 3e compartiment dans le sens de la marche. Encore une fois, pourquoi pas?
What luck! A vacant seat, almost, in that compartment. A provisional stop, why not? So, my new address in this nowhere train: car 12, 3rd compartment from the front. Once again, why not?
French grammar is the set of rules by which the French language creates statements, questions and commands. In many respects, it is quite similar to that of the other Romance languages.
Constrained writing is a literary technique in which the writer is bound by some condition that forbids certain things or imposes a pattern.
Quebec French, also known as Québécois French, is the predominant variety of the French language spoken in Canada. It is the dominant language of the province of Quebec, used in everyday communication, in education, the media, and government.
François Cheng is a Chinese-born French academician, writer, poet, and calligrapher. He is the author of essays, novels, collections of poetry and books on art written in the French language, and the translator of some of the great French poets into Chinese.
Haitian Creole, commonly referred to as simply Creole, or Kreyòl in the Creole language, is a French-based creole language spoken by 10–12million people worldwide, and is one of the two official languages of Haiti, where it is the native language of the vast majority of the population. Northern, Central, and Southern dialects are the three main dialects of Haitian Creole. The Northern dialect is predominantly spoken in Cap-Haïtien, Central is spoken in Port-au-Prince, and Southern in the Cayes area.
Alain Robbe-Grillet was a French writer and filmmaker. He was one of the figures most associated with the Nouveau Roman trend of the 1960s, along with Nathalie Sarraute, Michel Butor and Claude Simon. Robbe-Grillet was elected a member of the Académie française on 25 March 2004, succeeding Maurice Rheims at seat No. 32. He married Catherine Robbe-Grillet.
A Void, translated from the original French La Disparition, is a 300-page French lipogrammatic novel, written in 1969 by Georges Perec, entirely without using the letter e, following Oulipo constraints. Perec would go on to write with the inverse constraint in Les Revenents, with only the vowel “e” present in the work. Ian Monk would later translate Les Revenents into English under the title The Exeter Text.
Fatima-Zohra Imalayen, known by her pen name Assia Djebar, was an Algerian novelist, translator and filmmaker. Most of her works deal with obstacles faced by women, and she is noted for her feminist stance. She is "frequently associated with women's writing movements, her novels are clearly focused on the creation of a genealogy of Algerian women, and her political stance is virulently anti-patriarchal as much as it is anti-colonial." Djebar is considered to be one of North Africa's pre-eminent and most influential writers. She was elected to the Académie française on 16 June 2005, the first writer from the Maghreb to achieve such recognition. For the entire body of her work she was awarded the 1996 Neustadt International Prize for Literature. She was often named as a contender for the Nobel Prize for Literature.
Antoine de Caunes is a French television presenter, actor, writer and film director. He is the son of two prominent French personalities, television journalist-reporter Georges de Caunes and television announcer Jacqueline Joubert. He is the father of the actress Emma de Caunes.
Marie Darrieussecq is a French writer. She is also a translator, and has practised as a psychoanalyst.
Catherine Ferry is a French singer. In 1976, at the Eurovision Song Contest, Catherine Ferry represented France with the song "Un, deux, trois". She ranked second in the contest. Among the backing vocalists was Daniel Balavoine, who wrote the B side "Petit Jean". She worked and was produced mainly by Daniel Balavoine a famous French singer who wrote nearly 30 songs for her.
François Mitterrand and the far right has been the theme of a number of books, films and television programmes since 1990, generating many column inches and much debate, not to mention rumours and gossip. Pierre Péan's book published in 1994 discusses in depth François Mitterrand's formative years in the 1930s and 1940s. Other authors discuss 1980s rise in the Front national, and debate the possibility of Mitterrand deliberately dividing the right for political gain.
Lætitia Masson is a French film director and screenwriter. She has directed twelve films since 1991. Her film À vendre was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival.
Yves Mirande was a French screenwriter, director, actor, and producer.
Claude Klotz, better known by his pen name Patrick Cauvin, was a French writer.
The Girl from Nowhere is a 2012 French fantasy drama film written and directed by Jean-Claude Brisseau. The film had its world premiere on 8 August 2012 at the 65th Locarno Festival, where it won the Golden Leopard. It was released theatrically in France on 6 February 2013 by Les Acacias.
The Grand prix Jean Giono is a French literary prize. It was established in 1990 at the initiative of Michel Albert, to honour the writer Jean Giono. Since 1992 it consists of two categories: the Jean Giono Grand Prize and the Jury Prize. The winner of the Grand prix Jean Giono receives 10,000 euros.
Animal Kingdom: Let's Go Ape, also titled Evolution Man and Why I Did (Not) Eat My Father, is a 2015 computer-animated adventure comedy film directed by Jamel Debbouze in collaboration with producer Fred Fougea. The film a loose adaptation on the 1960 novel The Evolution Man by Roy Lewis from an original screenplay by Fred Fougea and Jean-Luc Fromental.
Jennifer Tremblay is a Canadian writer living in Quebec.
Night prides are protest demonstrations of LGBTI people alternative to the Pride marches, which are considered depoliticized.
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