Harraga and Hittistes III

The coast of Annaba in Algeria, from where
  harraga try to reach France or Spain.

AnAnd even worse (see Harraga and Hittistes II).

Today's El Watan (an Algerian newspaper published in French) reports:

Des harraga âgés de 10 ans en Espagne

Several harraga (African immigrants who try to smuggle themselves into Europe by boat) were intercepted earlier this week by the Spanish authorities as they tried to flee across the Mediterranean on "un petit bateau pneumatique" - that is, a small rubber dinghy.  This time,  it was neither a woman nor a grandfather who was fleeing to the West for a "better life"... but five boys aged 10 and one aged 16. 

The children were found on board alone, with no adults accompanying them.

The Guardian newspaper strikes again with "les fuck-offs"

It's all here: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/mar/19/britain-france-troubled-alliance

Knowing French makes you more intelligent (allegedly)!

Irregular verbs, unlikely agreements between words, arbitrary genders - every grammarian says the same thing: French is a difficult language to master. But what if this very complexity accounts for the success of French-speaking mathematicians?

French is a "dreadfully difficult and complicated language, full of knots", so says the writer Claude Duneton in his column in Figaro Littéraire. Look at all "its irregular verbs, its participles that don't agree, its out-of-control adjectives, its singular plurals and its old-fashioned tenses" - not to mention its totally arbitrary genders. Why is "table" feminine and "desk" masculine, and why is it la rose but le lily?

Even grammarians complain about how difficult French is. Claude Duneton, who takes delight in opposing this widely held view, puts forward what he calls a "perfectly gratuitous hypothesis": "What if this very subtlety and these niceties were one of the secret strengths of French? What if the French language encouraged the development of a mathematical way of thinking?" That would help to explain a great mystery:  that "French mathematicians and mathematicians who speak French are at the head of world research".


This article, translated by Culturissima's Dr David Winter, first appeared in the literature section of the French daily newspaper, Le Figaro.

Walid the blasphemer

Walid the blasphemer embarrasses Palestine

For months he was one of the most hated internet users in the Muslim world. His Facebook page, which went by the name Ana Allah ("I am God"), was full of blasphemous sallies and barefaced arguments in favour of apostasy. But when the mystery poster was arrested at the start of the month, to everyone's surprise he turned out to be a shy young barber from Qalqilya, a small town in the West Bank.

Fear of the Outsider

Fear of the Outsider: Part One

One of the most compelling themes of New England literature – and a recurrent motif of the region’s films, too – is “outsider-phobia”.

Fear of the outsider or stranger, one might reasonably argue, is part of the literary landscape the world over (in Europe, of course, one immediately thinks of Meursault in Camus’ L’Etranger). 

Nowhere, however, is suspicion – even hatred – of the foreign object more prevalent than in the literary tradition of New England. 

"There are children starving in Africa. Eat your peas"

A very quick post to an interesting blog on Africa that has just been published in the Harvard Business Review. Jonathan Berman's article challenges the stereotypes that so many of us have about the continent and makes refreshing reading for Culturissima, as so much of our work and so many of our clients are based in countries such as Libya, Algeria and Tunisia.

More to follow!

Two very useful English words that don't exist in French...

Delphine Autret, a Meribel-based translator, has emailed Culturissima the following humorous take on why English language is littered with so many French words... we particularly enjoyed the last paragraph.

It’s magnifical!

Further proof, if proof were needed, of two self-evident facts from the world of translation, namely:

i. translators are a waste of money because anyone can translate;

ii. every French man or woman that the Good Lord has so graciously bequeathed to us speaks perfect English.

Or maybe not...

Why head for the Med when you can spend August in Paris?

Paris' last remaining vineyard, Montmartre

Contrary to popular belief, not all of Paris closes down during the month of August. What does happen, though, is that as soon as July nears its end thousands and thousands of Parisians flee the city for their second homes in the country or on the coast.  And, let’s be honest, what could be more pleasurable than Paris without Parisians?

The city's residents, both young and old, are noticeably friendlier, more “cool” and “zen” as the French themselves put it, during August. Sure, some of the cafés and restaurants (and seemingly all of the boulangeries) pull down their shutters for the month, but just as many stay open. And though the main tourist sites – the Eiffel Tower, the Sacré Coeur, Paris Plage – still teem with foreign visitors, the morning streets are deserted. 

Ebrahim Hamidi is 18 years old and is going to be hanged

This article first appeared in Le Monde; it was translated from the French by Culturissima's managing director, Dr David Winter, on behalf of an American client.

After Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, recently condemned to death by stoning for committing adultery, Iran is refusing to backtrack with the sentencing to hang of a young man suspected of being homosexual.  

Ebrahim Hamidi is eighteen and is going to die. Ebrahim’s country, Iran, has found him guilty of an abominable crime: he is alleged to be homosexual. And so he must die. Because Tehran's judges are eager to hand over to the executioner a man suspected of sleeping in the same bed as his fellow man. 

This prospect alone, so contrary to the very notion of humanity, would be enough to horrify us, and we can only imagine the terror in which Iranian homosexuals live, obliged to be silent, to lie and to deny their identity.  

The charges are said to have been fabricated following a trivial quarrel; the accusations made up by fellow detainees in return for promises about being released; and Ebrahim's confession extracted under torture.

During Ebrahim's trial, the defendant did not have the right to any form of legal representation. And the verdict itself was delivered by a magistrate who based his decision on a special procedure known as “judge’s knowledge”, which allows for subjective judicial rulings when no formal proof exists.    

In a spectacular new development in July, Ebrahim Hamidi’s alleged victim admitted that he had made a false accusation under pressure from his parents. You might have thought that such a retraction would have led to the sentence being quashed. Far from it. Ebrahim Hamidi is still guilty of a "crime" that he has not committed. Is he homosexual or not? It makes no difference. He has to die.  

Ebrahim Hamidi a 18 ans et il va être pendu

Après Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, condamnée à la lapidation pour adultère, l'Iran persiste et signe en condamnant à la pendaison un jeune homme soupçonné d'homosexualité.

Ebrahim Hamidi a 18 ans et il va mourir. Dans son pays, l'Iran, il a été reconnu coupable d'un crime abominé: Ebrahim Hamidi serait homosexuel. Donc il doit mourir. Car les juges de Téhéran n'hésitent pas à livrer au bourreau l'homme soupçonné de dormir dans le même lit que son semblable.

Cette seule perspective suffirait à nous horrifier, tant elle est contraire à la notion même d'humanité et nous laisse imaginer la terreur dans laquelle vivent les homosexuels iraniens, obligés de se taire, de mentir, de nier leur identité.

L'accusation aurait été montée de toutes pièces à la suite d'une rixe banale, les dénonciations faites par des emprisonnés l'auraient été au prix de promesses de remise en liberté, les aveux d'Ebrahim extorqués sous la torture.

Au cours de son procès, l'accusé n'a pas eu droit à la moindre représentation légale. Quant au verdict, il a été prononcé par un magistrat qui s'en est remis à son propre jugement, procédure utilisée lorsqu'il n'existe pas de preuve formelle.

Au mois de juillet, en un rebondissement spectaculaire, la "victime" présumée d'Ebrahim Hamidi a reconnu avoir porté contre lui de fausses accusations sous la pression de ses parents. On pourrait croire que cette rétractation aurait entraîné l'annulation de la sentence. Pas du tout. Ebrahim Hamidi est toujours coupable, d'un "crime" qu'il n'a pas commis. Est-il homosexuel ou non ? Qu'importe. Il doit mourir.