The Ministry of Culture encourages young people to "harangue" the crowds

“Ah!

no!

This is a bit short, young man!

You could say… Oh!

God! ... many things in short ... By varying the tone, - for example, hold on (...) »

.

Will they rise to the level of Cyrano de Bergerac, sacred monster of the word?

The

“Fortnight of the Beautiful Harangue”

, launched by the Writing Foundation, encourages young people to write a text and then to recite it in public.

From September 22 to October 6, 2021, each child, adolescent or young adult who so wishes is invited to express themselves on the theme:

"what if"

.

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The challenge of the project, supported by the Ministry of Culture and the General Delegation for the French Language and the Languages ​​of France, is to encourage young people to get involved, by writing on a subject that is dear to them.

They choose their theme themselves.

Among those already treated:

"What if we set course for happiness"

,

"What if we let me speak"

,

"What if all young people could get involved"

,

"What if we learned differently"

,

"What if we assimilated various cultures ”

, etc.

"French youth have important things to say"

Volunteers are guided in their writing and speaking by academics, artists and experts in contemporary issues. They are thus called upon to

“celebrate writing and speaking”

in their establishment or in public places (theaters, station platforms, streets, etc.). The moment was not chosen at random:

"French youth have important things to express and it is our responsibility to create the conditions for collective listening"

, we read on the event website. The health crisis and

"testing the resilience of our planet"

are all issues that the young generation must face, especially by speaking out.

The choice of September 22 is not trivial, since it is the day of the autumn equinox,

“herald of change”

.

Showcase the richness of French

The theme

"La Belle Harangue"

is significant because

"the harangue is a braided word of audacity and conviction, committed, engaging. A speech that bears the imprint of the soul and [which] touches the heart (...) ”

, according to the poet, slammer and author Marc Alexandre Oho Bambe, one of the project's sponsors.

"Haranguing is transmitting messages and emotions through the art of words and structure"

, defines Aurélie Jean, doctor of science, entrepreneur and one of her godmothers. Érik Orsenna, Blandine Rinkel and Nicolas Bouchaud also sponsor the project.

Already more than 5,000 young people are registered throughout mainland and ultra-marine France.

"Most of them are between 14 and 17 years old, but there are some younger in primary school, and others of 22 years old"

, specifies the press release.

The event is held in

“almost all French regions and beyond, in large cities (Lorient, Marseille, Strasbourg, Paris…) or smaller ones (Chatelaillon-Plage, Cognin, Hazebrouck…), in Martinique , but also in Andorra, Portugal… ”

.

The restitutions will be held in schools, in public spaces, in markets, in front of monuments…

“They are deployed both in town and in rural areas, encouraging inter-generational meetings and work on words.”