Student Project Helps Fall in Love with French Music and Expand Cultural Outlook

Midjourney

On June 8th, 2023, students from different faculties of HSE University who had participated in the project ‘Cross-cultural dialogue between the Arab Maghreb and France through the example of song and music traditions’ presented the results of their work. Irina Bilyk, head of the project, and Arina Tulebaeva, a second-year student of the Asian and African Studies programme at HSE University in Moscow, who was instrumental in organising it, spoke to us about the project.

The project was initiated by Irina Tsaregorodtseva, Head of the Scientific and Education Section for Middle Eastern Studies, School of Asian Studies, Faculty of World Economy and International Affairs. HSE University students from the Asian and African Studies, Linguistics and Economics programmes took part in the project, which lasted over six months. For most, this was their first exposure to the French language.

Irina Bilyk, head of the project ‘Cross-cultural dialogue between the Arab Maghreb and France through the example of song and music traditions’

The aim of the project was to introduce students to the widespread phenomenon of the French song and the associated musical culture, and the involvement of other nationalities’ representatives in it, in particular, Arab performers, as well as to familiarise them with the basics of the French language. The group was wonderful: open, gracious, grateful, and creative, meaning this project was an absolute pleasure to work on. We used phonetics, which can be quite challenging, got acquainted with the basic grammar of French, and looked at the work of about 20 artists. For the final session, the students prepared independent presentations about those performers they liked most, including Patrick Bruel, Dalida, Salvatore Adamo, Patrick Fiori, Francoise Hardy, Joe Dassin, Khaled, and read poems by French poets.

Arina Tulebaeva, second-year student of the Asian and African Studies programme

The project participants, including me, were engaged in learning French from scratch, which was not easy. In each session, we analysed one French-speaking performer and talked about the cross-cultural ties between France and the Maghreb countries—this region interests me very much. At home, we listened to songs, and translated the lyrics—all of which revealed the beauty that comes from the interweaving of two cultures. The key result was that we learnt the basics of the French language, immersed ourselves in Arabic-French intercultural relations, and expanded of knowledge about Francophone culture in general. I got to know and fell in love with such performers as Dalida and Jacques Brel. I’d like to thank our teacher and the School of Asian and African Studies for this opportunity.

In general, working on this project has helped me improve my organisational skills, my ability to coordinate a team and find a compromise in difficult situations. We all hope that the project will continue and we will be able to take part in it again next year.

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The organisers plan to further develop the project, in particular paying more attention to texts and translation.