Melinda talks to Jean-Francois Revel

Jean-François Revel (1924 - 2006) was a French journalist, author, and philosopher.

Revel does not confine his analysis to France. And he also gives warning to the West about the fragility of democracies. Nor does he feel that living in France has made him more sensitive to these issues. He speaks as a European. "I have always said that democracy is an abnormal political system. It's an exception. In Europe, people have always found it difficult to maintain a democracy."

Excerpt from Through Parisian Eye [PDF]

MelindaCamberPorter.com

Jean-Paul Aron interview from 1976

Jean-Paul Aron (27 May 1925 - 20 August 1988) was a French writer, philosopher and journalist.

In 1976 Melinda sat down with Mr. Aron in Paris. Their conversation was included in her book Through Parisian Eyes, in which in the French writer, journalist, and philosopher had a lot to say:

On the search for novelty that has invaded art and literature: "I am not against modernity, and I know that each epoch produces its own new truth. But I am against these impostures of modernity, that's to say, these 'new' systems of thought, which become like commodities...People say that America produces literary works like commodities. But it's true of France. At the moment we have new products, or books, that glut the market, each one destorying the validity of the previous 'new' book."

On structuralism: "People take to these systems of thought when they want to avoid living, meaning, and feelings. There's a curious taste for objectivity...What I mean is that people are under the illusion that you can transcribe a so-called objective view of the world...so you don't have to actually experience life."

Read the full text from Through Parisian Eyes [PDF]

MelindaCamberPorter.com

Melinda and Bertrand Tavernier in conversation

Bertrand Tavernier (1941 - ) is a French director, screenwriter, actor and producer.

Bertrand Tavernier, who has directed such varied films as Death Watch and A Sunday in the Country, chooese to explore diverse subjects partly becuase he is afraid of his natural tendency to return to the same themese and characters. On the set, Tavernier has caught himself repeating certain sequences from previous films. But he feels that despite his decision to explore different epochs and varied worlds, his central theme remains the same: "Most of the characters that interest me are people who are preoccupied by the problems of communicating, and they are always people in crisis."

Read the full excerpt here.     |     MelindaCamberPorter.com

Bron Today: Delphine Seyrig

from Through Parisian Eyes by Melinda Camber Porter:

Delphine Seyrig made her name by incarnating, as she puts it, “a sophisticated, inaccessible woman, a dream who is not the true ideal because she doesn’t do the washing up.”

Outside her spacious living room one can the laughter and chatter of the women who participate in her feminist activities. She launches into an explanation of feminism which, when she discovered it, was a catalyst that gave her the confidence to express all the she had intuited and bottled up.

“It starts off when you’re a little girl. You are almost born angry. You notice the difference between little boys and girls. At school, you learn that everything has been created and invented by men. I knew I had to smile, be mischievous and pretty. People had a low opinion of my intelligence. When I tried to speak about things that were important to me I was told it was nonsense. So I became superficial in order to please. I saw a choice before me, although I couldn’t formulate it: to rebel right from the start, or to say to myself, ‘In order to survive, I must become what others want me to be. Otherwise I will be crushed. It’s evident that people aren’t interested in me, so to be recognized I will exist for others. In myself I am nothing.’ I chose the latter course and succeeded in giving the image that men wanted, always with a nagging feeling of disquiet.”

Read the full excerpt from Through Parisian Eye