LE FLUX
Cody Johnson
一本道无码 – French & Francophone Studies
Survivre au temps
De quoi nous rendre dément
Le temps qui passe
Invitation à entrer dedans
Nous sommes prisonniers de l'impasse
Le temps qui me prend
La raison devient une farce
Chaque jour dicté par la cloche
La fin qui de plus en plus se rapproche
Dans nos têtes le bruit de fond résonne
On suit le rythme
C’est un régime
Université, études, soirée et un film
Comment résoudre cette énigme ?
Vivre le temps
Accepter ses imperfections
Oh, une pure salvation
Arrêter de vouloir le contrôler
Apprendre, ses larmes refouler
Profiter du moment
Jouir de l'instant
C'est ainsi que l'on peut réussir
À vaincre ce que beaucoup vont haïr
--
About the poem, above:
Slam or spoken word poetry is a form of poetry that aims to be performed live. As such, it departs from traditional perceptions of poetry as primarily written for an elite readership. The current form of poetry slams was born in Chicago in 1984 but performance poetry has a much longer tradition traced back to ancient times in Africa. "Le slam," as it is known in France, has garnered instant success in France and is still growing in popularity as an art form that is anchored in both urban culture and in the long tradition of the French "chanson à textes." Indeed, slam artists often engage with social issues and their impact of their own lives and communities.
In Spring 2019, French students enrolled in the 82-305 course "French in its social contexts" had the opportunity to study the form through the work of famous French slam artists such as Grand Corps Malade and Abd Al Malik. More importantly, they also had the opportunity to take part in a slam workshop with Québécoise artist . During a visit made possible by the generosity of the Department of Modern Languages, the Department of English, and the School of Music, Jenny Sagado, a Montréalaise of Haitian descent spent a week in Pittsburgh and worked with students in the course on the form, its intention, and its craft.
Subsequently, students composed their own slam poems. At the end of the semester, they performed their poems twice in front of the cameras, once with a traditional camera indoors, and once with a 360˚ camera outdoors. The texts you have here are the results of some intense self-reflection, hard work, and a week of fun spent with Jenny.