La Poésie de Gisèle Guillemot

Aujourd’hui en classe, on a commencé à analyser trois poèmes de Gisèle Guillemot, ancienne Résistante. Ecoutez son poème A ma mère: Download a_ma_mere.mp3

On a lu aussi Mon amie et Le beau Danube. Quelques uns d'entre nous auront l’honneur de rencontrer Mme Guillemot quand nous visiterons Paris la semaine prochaine. Après avoir discuté des poèmes, on a formulé les questions suivantes en anglais que nous voudrions lui poser. On va travailler sur des traductions en classe mercredi prochain.

· What were your reasons for joining the Resistance?

· Your poem Mon amie is very pessimistic. Did you believe the Resistance was doomed to fail?

· Your friend never got to do the things she wanted. What was the first thing you did on your release?

· Do films like L’armée des ombres give a realistic impression of life as a Résistant?

· Despite the terrors associated with being a Résistante, were you ever excited?

· Are you proud of what you did?

· Were some of the brutal executions carried out by the Resistance necessary in your view?

· Was your poetry a way of coping with the pressures of the situation?

· Given its clandestine nature, how did someone join the Resistance? Did you find them or did they find you?

· In A ma mère, you seem to think you are about to be killed. What were you referring to when you wrote Mais sous la neige germe le blé...il fera si beau? Could you see light at the end of the tunnel for the Resistance, even if not for yourself?

· Did you have more positive information at the time of writing?

· Was the Resistance movement growing in membership?

· What was your relationship with you family like?

· Mathilde in L’armée des ombres says that even her husband had no clue about her work. Did your family and friends know of your involvement? If not, did you feel deceitful?

· Did you discover any Résistants after the war you had not realised were active?

· How did you know who to trust?

· Were you ever deceived by someone?

· What were your prison conditions like? Did you have freedom to talk to other Résistants as a means of relief?