Entre Les Murs Research Articles

Intersections of Multiculturalism, Education, and Identity in 'Entre les Murs’: A Comparative Analysis of Learning Experiences

This scholarly article delves into the intricate layers of the French banlieue film Entre les murs (2008), directed by Laurent Cantet. The article aims to unravel the multifaceted portrayal of banlieue culture and its significance within the cinematic and socio-cultural landscape. It comprehensively analyses the film's narrative, characters, social themes and artistic choices, navigating the complexities of cultural diversity and identity formation within the banlieue context. The film's characters, students, and teachers become focal points for analysis, shedding light on the challenges and possibilities within the education system.
 Further, the article explores the film's cinematic techniques and aesthetics, including its visual style, cinematography, editing, and use of sound and music. The documentary-like approach of the film is examined, considering its impact on the storytelling and the portrayal of authenticity. By analysing the film's artistic choices, this article aims to uncover the subtle nuances and intentional creative decisions that contribute to the film's overall impact.
 Moreover, the article evaluates the critical reception and lasting legacy of Entre les murs. It explores the film's reception among critics and audiences, highlighting its awards, nominations, and influence on subsequent French cinema. It also discusses the film's socio-political relevance and contribution to the discourse on education, multiculturalism and social inequality.
 In addition to drawing upon various scholarly works and theories, the article seeks to place Entre les murs within the broader academic discourse, including areas such as auteur theory, social realism, postcolonial theory, cultural studies and sociological perspectives. Together, these serve to deepen the understanding of the film and its socio-cultural implications.
 Regarding the social context, the article examines the film's position in time-space and the situation of the French educational system in the poor and multicultural neighbourhoods of France. It considers the challenges faced by the education system and explores the plans to address them, contributing to a comprehensive analysis of the film's socio-cultural context.
 In conclusion, this academic article unveils the depths of Entre les murs, shedding light on its portrayal of banlieue realities, the educational system's challenges, and the complexities of multiculturalism and identity. By combining meticulous analysis, scholarly perspectives and an appreciation for the film's artistic merits, this article contributes to the ongoing academic dialogue surrounding the film and its enduring impact on French cinema.

Creative Approaches to Teaching French and Francophone Culture Remotely

Contemporary textbooks reflect these guidelines by including lessons which focus not only on the home country of the language (French/France;Spanish/Spain;Chinese/China) but also on the multiple areas of the world where this language is the common unifying factor. Pace currently uses the Learning Management System 'Blackboard' which provides numerous platforms that allow creative presentation formats for the instructor, as well as different modes of interaction between and among the students and the instructor. The reading/viewing list for this course as taught in Fall 2019 was as follows: [End Page 40] Films: Claude Ossaro and Emmanuel Benbihy: Paris, I Love You (Paris, je t'aime) Anne Fontaine: Coco Before Chanel (Coco avant Chanel) Tom Hooper: Les Miserables Laurent Cantet: The Class (Entre les murs) Jean-Pierre Jeunet: Amelie (Le fabuleux destin d'Amelie Poulain) Nora Ephron: Julie and Julia Fiction: Emile Zola: The Ladies' Paradise (Au bonheur des dames) Larry Collins: Is Paris Burning? Faces Places (Visages villages) The learning objectives for both courses are the same: A. Students will appreciate and understand aspects of French and/or Francophone culture that differ from their own;B. Students will develop an appreciation for the role cinema plays in France and/or Francophone countries, and appreciate it as an art form rather than simply entertainment;C. Students will use multimedia sources to research information relating to films or literature and use this information to write analytical essays;D. Students will view films or read literary texts in the historical or sociological context in which they were produced as evidence of a specific society's views of the world.

O pewnej tendencji (współczesnego) kina francuskiego… „Kino przedmieść” i jego wizualne parateksty na przykładzie "Nienawiści" Mathieu Kassovitza i "Nieustraszonej" Danielle Arbid

In this paper we elaborate on the educational use of film posters understood as film paratexts in Gérard Genette’s theory as well as in later media research. The subject of our research is cinéma de banlieue – a French film movement that situates the protagonists not only spatially, but also socially (such as La Haine, dir. M. Kassovitz, 1995, Entre les murs, dir. L. Cantet, 2008, Peur de rien, dir. D. Arbid, 2015, and Dheepan, dir. J. Audiard, 2015). By analyzing film paratexts, we include these materials in the context of cultural representations of the Parisian suburbs. Our research is established in educational and academic practice whose essential part is the in-depth work with the paratexts conducted by students and facilitated by the lecturer.

Ulusal Eğitim Meselesine Sinemanın Gözünden Bakmak: Entre Les Murs (Fransa) ve İki Dil Bir Bavul (Türkiye) Filmleri Üzerine Bir Karşılaştırma

Globalization transforms everything within notional values and national education as well. Multiculturalist or multicultural and multi-ethnicity approaches also give effects on national education and politics in the context of globalization. This flow like as ethnic-based national politics brings to light of social conflict among national society and the others. Especially 2005 riots of France and long lasting Kurdish society and recent Syrian migration of Turkey force them to be subject of the problem that has strong arguments on national systems within identity and integration through education. This article tries to determine etymological changes of nationalism and its effect on national education debate through the eyes of Entre Les Murs (2008) and On the Way to School (2008) and its national directors. Both of films have non-ideological perspective and search for humanitarian values of nationalists and the others. Both of films criticize the nationalism as a sub-term of modernism instead of feudalism. Lack of cultural equality and civilisation and technical infrastructure of education system in France and Turkey cannot transform the whole society to be gathered under the co-nationalism umbrella. It causes greying of personal, humanitarian effects of two idealist and hero teachers on their student in the films. All this kind of mis-opportunities of French and Turkish modernisation for their whole society means populist politics continue to shape the education but partially.

Education as hospitality: welcoming foreigners into a common world

ABSTRACTThe present article aims at examining the specific difficulties that the school form – the modern educational institution par excellence – faces in order to attain hospitality as the raison d'être of the educational process. Educational activity is here understood as a form of hospitality which involves caring for the newcomers and for the physical and symbolic place into which they arrive. A cinematographical narrative drawn from Bégaudeau’s Entre les Murs supplements this analysis of some of the challenges we are faced with when dealing with students from different national backgrounds, beliefs and forms of life.

“En français, s’il te plaît”: the linguistic battlegrounds of Entre les murs

AbstractRepresentations of language as a tool for exerting social power are steadily increasing in the French cinema of the twenty-first century. In linguistically diverse films like Laurent Cantet’s Entre les murs (2008), language is used by institutions to establish hierarchies, and by individuals to undermine them. In such films, both French and other languages can constitute a narrative device in themselves, and a weapon for challenging authority and manipulating others. Such a cinema raises important questions concerning the role of language in today’s France. This article examines the ways in which language is harnessed as a tool for both constructing and deconstructing power relationships in the environment of the contemporary French collège in Entre les murs. Within the film’s ritualized classroom setting, the bourgeois French teacher and multicultural student cohort use variations of French and other languages, including undervalued slang forms such as verlan and tchatche, to dominate one another and (re) negotiate the social hierarchy. The result is a linguistic battleground, in which the codified power relations of the teacher–student dynamic are undermined. The film thus prompts us to reconsider what it means to “master language” in relation to cinema and the contemporary concept of “Global French.”RésuméDans le cinéma français du 21e siècle, de plus en plus souvent, la langue est représentée comme un outil de pouvoir. Dans les films multilingues comme Entre les murs de Laurent Cantet (2008), la langue aide à la fois les institutions à établir des hiérarchies, et les individus à les remettre en question. Dans ces films, la langue – qu’elle soit le français standard, l’argot ou une langue étrangère – peut représenter un élément narratif important, et même une manière de contester l’autorité et de manipuler les autres. Ce cinéma soulève des questions importantes sur le rôle de la langue dans la France d’aujourd’hui. Cet article examine les manières dont les personnages d’Entre les murs utilisent la langue pour négocier les relations de pouvoir dans l’environnement du collège contemporain français. Dans un espace politique et ritualisé, le professeur français bourgeois et sa classe multiculturelle utilisent plusieurs formes du français, y compris le verlan et la tchatche, ainsi que d’autres langues, pour (re) négocier la hiérarchie sociale. L’école devient par conséquent un champ de bataille linguistique, où les relations de pouvoir professeur-étudiants sont mises en question. Le film nous pousse donc à reconsidérer les concepts de “la maîtrise de la langue” et du “français mondial” (“Global French”) dans le contexte du cinéma contemporain.

NILAI-NILAI PENDIDIKAN MULTIKULTURAL DALAM FILM 'ENTRE LES MURS' PENELITIAN ANALISIS ISI

Abstrak
 Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk memahami secara komprehensif nilai-nilai pendidikan multikultural dari James Banks dalam film "Entre les Murs". Penelitian kualitatif ini menggunakan analisis percakapan. Analisis dan interpretasi data menunjukkan bahwa: (1) integrasi isi ditunjukkan dalam film melalui diskusi antar guru, bukan dari kurikulum sekolah; (2) proses konstruksi ilmu pengetahuan ditunjukkan dari metode mengajar; (3) pedagogik kesetaraan antar manusia ditunjukkan dari sikap guru yang memberikan kesempatan bagi siswanya untuk meningkatkan rasa kepercayaan diri, memotivasi siswa, dan memberikan ilmu yang sama tanpa memandang etnis; (4) pengurangan prasangka terlihat dari tingkah laku positif seperti interaksi interpersonal dari para siswa yang menunjukkan usaha untuk mengurangi prasangka, walaupun masih ada prasangka negatif yang terlihat; dan (5) pemberdayaan kebudayaan sekolah terlihat dari program sekolah yang memungkinkan adanya keterlibatan seluruh perangkat sekolah seperti kepala sekolah, guru, siswa, dan orangtua siswa.
 Kata Kunci: Analisis percakapan, film, multikultural, pendidikan multikultural
 Abstract
 The objective of this research is to understand comprehensively the values of multicultural education from James Banks on the film "Entre les Murs". This qualitative research uses conversation analysis. The data analysis and interpretation indicates (1) content integration is shown on the film from the discussions between the teacher; (2) knowledge construction process is shown from the teaching method; (3) equity pedagogy is shown from the teachers who provide opportunities for students to boost their confidence, motivate students, and provide the same education regardless of ethnicity; (4) prejudice reduction is shown in interpersonal interactions between students that indicate an effort of prejudice reduction such as helping each other, even though the negative prejudicefrom the teachers and the students are still shown; (5) empowering school culture and social structure is shown from school programs that enable the involvement of all school stakeholders.
 Keywords: Conversation analysis, multicultural, multicultural education.

Code-switching as Power Strategy: Multilingualism and the Role of Arabic in Maïwenn’s Polisse (2011)

The presence of multilingualism, and its representation as a strategy for exerting power, is steadily increasing in twenty-first-century French cinema. In recent films such as Un Prophete (Jacques Audiard, 2009), Entre les murs (Laurent Cantet, 2008) and London River (Rachid Bouchareb, 2009), multilingualism does not merely function as a decorative or secondary element, but as a central narrative component, a device for wresting and wielding power and a means of (re)negotiating interpersonal hierarchies. Thus contemporary multilingual French films are not merely multilingual; they are about multilingualism. This article focusses on a sequence of code-switching between French and Arabic in the film Polisse (Maiwenn, 2011). Contrasting this scene with earlier depictions of Arabic in French cinema, it interrogates how Polisse uses code-switching to reconfigure the power relationship between French and languages historically underrepresented, trivialised or marginalised.

Séquences: Intermediate French through Film by Michèle Bissière

THE FRENCH REVIEW, Vol. 87, No. 1, October 2013 Printed in U.S.A. Methods and Materials edited by Sarah Jourdain 195 Bissière, Michèle. Séquences: Intermediate French through Film. 2nd ed. Boston: Heinle Cengage, 2013. ISBN 978-1-111-35416-9. Pp. 408. $121. Movies are one of the most powerful tools in second language education. They allow instructors to introduce their students to a whole array of cultural aspects. Séquences proves to be a great tool to expose students to the complexities of French and Francophone identities. The book is divided into ten chapters, including one preliminary chapter introducing the vocabulary necessary to talk about films, along with a brief historical survey of French and Francophone cinema throughout the years. Each following chapter centers around a particular movie: L’auberge espagnole for a discussion on student life, Rue Cases-Nègres on roots, Persépolis on the transition between teenage years and adulthood, Le Placard on professional life, Indochine on politics and personal life, Chaos on the relationship between men and women, Entre les murs on school and society, Le dîner de cons on entertainment, and Tableau ferraille on private and public life. Each chapter is divided into four parts: vocabulary, themes/culture, readings, and grammar. The four components of language instruction (reading, writing, speaking, and listening) are very well balanced throughout each chapter with introductory readings and literary excerpts, an audio CD that provides additional cultural information and authentic dialogues, grammar exercises in context , speaking activities in pairs and groups, along with topics for exposés and skits. There is also a strong emphasis on the language used in these films, be it colloquial, refined, or standard French. The lists of vocabulary words are very useful, detailed yet not overwhelming for students to master. Finally, the author provides several expansion questions that allow students to think beyond the movie itself. Séquences also includes a little folder organized by themes that contains lists of questions that regroup different movies and force students to step back and reflect on a semester’s long discussion. Even though all the movies are not equal in quality of story and actors’ performance, they all prove to be thought-provoking and very powerful triggers for interesting conversations in class. The selection allows students to reflect on French and Francophone identities—sexual, racial, ethnic, religious, etc. All in all, Séquences is a detailed, comprehensive, effective text for students who want to learn more about French and Francophone culture and develop their four skills in a fun, dynamic, and entertaining way, and it is a great tool for any instructor teaching French culture through media. Williams College (MA) Céline Brossillon-Rivera ...

Spatial allegories of democratic pluralism in Laurent Cantet's Entre les Murs

Entre les Murs/The Class (Laurent Cantet 2008) is one in a long line of critically acclaimed French films to address the social and political dynamics of contemporary immigrant experience. The film's focus on a multicultural suburban high school has fuelled ongoing debates about the ability of the French public education system to accommodate the interests of the nation's diverse population. While much of the critical response to Entre les Murs has focused on its realism, this article addresses the allegorical significance of the film's primary narrative spaces - the classroom, faculty rooms and the playground - in the context of contemporary French immigra-tion policies, definitions of citizenship and mechanisms of political governance. The ambivalent representation of cultural particularism in Entre les Murs is discussed in relation to the self-legitimating ideologies of French Republicanism, while the tension in the film between individualism and institutional analysis is set against discourses of objectivity long associated with art cinema.

Breaking the Waves: Deconstructing Class/Gender and Sociocultural Stereotypes Through a Spanish Readings Course on Human Rights with Service Learning Component

As the film directors Bertrand Tavernier and Laurent Cantet demonstrate in their respective films It All Starts Today (1999) and Entre Les Murs (2008), schools still reproduce social inequality and cultural stereotypes. One of the most important challenges teachers and professors confront as members of civil society, particularly in moments of social crisis or instability, is to promote students' critical thinking in relation to individual and collective rights. A deep understanding of the concepts and history of human rights infuses the language classroom with a sense of cooperation and dignity that will promote the deconstructing of social and cultural stereotypes. This article analyzes the pedagogical implications and impact of readings on human rights and Service Learning within a community where foreign languages and cultures are recent social components of changes related to labor and immigration. This work explores the interrelation between the pedagogical and social dimensions of critic...

Ideologia: O muro da escola

The article shows how the subject of the discourse identifi es with the dominant ideology without being aware of it. The refl ection is based on the fi lms “Pro dia nascer feliz” and “Entre les murs”, with an attempt to demonstrate how ideology operates in speech. The concepts of discourse analysis by Pecheux are used under the guidance of a positivist paradigm, in which data is understood as evidence elements of a discursive mode of operation. In both fi lms, it can be observed the cultural and social difference among the characters; this difference materializes discursively and works as an element of division, generating the misunderstanding and friction in the teacher-pupil-school-parents relationship. The teacher is considered a subject with a colonizing role, i.e. one who imposes his/ her culture, knowledge and language on students in order to neutralize the differences producing the effect of a logically stabilized society, where everyone would have a ‘natural’ place

FRAMING EXCLUSION: THE POLITICS OF SPACE IN LAURENT CANTET'S ENTRE LES MURS

This article examines the spatial representation of cultural mixite in the latest film by Laurent Cantet. It takes the form of a close reading of Entre les murs (2008), which, while illustrating well the failings of French education and specifically its republican ideals of assimilation, appears also to endorse the benign authoritarianism of the one teacher featured and to frame the pupils themselves as the source of the problem. Taking into account Bourdieu's argument that the French education system always serves to reproduce social inequality and hierarchization, I propose that Cantet's concrete staging of the educational process has, in fact, a precise political aim: to reconfigure republican space by constructing a new spatial dynamics capable of freeing both cinematic space from its ideological frame and individual movement from symbolic violence. Through analysis of Cantet's complex framing strategies in three key sequences, I argue that the film renders powerfully present those who are habitually cast to the margins or excluded. By reconceiving the cinematic frame as a mobile and receptive vehicle for embracing the language of mixite, Entre les murs reveals itself ultimately as a constructive work of social mourning that reformulates in clear ethical terms the current dilemma of integration versus communautarisme .

Ideologia: O muro da escola - Doi: 10.5212/Uniletras.v.32i2.0002

The article shows how the subject of the discourse identifi es with the dominant ideology without being aware of it. The refl ection is based on the films “Pro dia nascer feliz” and “Entre les murs”, with an attempt to demonstrate how ideology operates in speech. The concepts of discourse analysis by Pecheux are used under the guidance of a positivist paradigm, in which data is understood as evidence elements of a discursive mode of operation. In both films, it can be observed the cultural and social difference among the characters; this difference materializes discursively and works as an element of division, generating the misunderstanding and friction in the teacher-pupil-school-parents relationship. The teacher is considered a subject with a colonizing role, i.e. one who imposes his/ her culture, knowledge and language on students in order to neutralize the differences producing the effect of a logically stabilized society, where everyone would have a ‘natural’ place.

Reading Urban Education through The Class: Between Paris and Montreal

In 2008, the Cannes Film Festival awarded the Palme d’Or, its highest honour, to The Class. Its original French title is Entre les Murs, which is literally translated as Between the Walls. Directed...

Être et parler: Being and speaking French in Abdellatif Kechiche's L'Esquive (2004) and Laurent Cantet's Entre les murs (2008)

French film-makers have long recognized the primordial importance to the nation's ‘imagined community’ of the centralized public school system, which, since the early days of the Third Republic, has been viewed as a bulwark of Republican values. In this essay, I discuss the ways in which two recent films, Abdellatif Kechiche's L'Esquive/The Dodge (2004) and Laurent Cantet's Entre les murs/The Class (2008), interrogate the role French schools play in shaping national identity. Both films focus on language as a marker of difference as well as a point of tension, performance and potential subversion, by exploring the respective contrast between the aggressive street French of the respective films' adolescent protagonists with the stultifying bureaucratic discourse of the inflexible educational system (in Entre les murs ) and Marivaux's elegant eighteenth century French (in L'Esquive ). Accorded significant media attention for their portrayal of the experiences of school-aged youth, both films have thus contributed to the ongoing national debate about what it means ‘to speak, and to be, French’ (Doran 2007: 498).