Diacritiques

/ˌser.ənˈdɪp.ɪ.ti/ is definitely taking the risk of becoming, quite unintentionally, something like a Language Log commentary column. It is a little humiliating to admit that I can’t seem to be able to keep up with the Language Log linguists, and today I probably ought to have retired to the bed with a cup of hot milk, a handful of aspirin and a good murder mystery to nurse my inflamed airways. But this is impossible; I just can’t. The inexhaustible Mark Lieberman has opened not just a can of worms, but the entire contents of a worm farm. The topics at issue are the notion of “core Europe” (“Kerneuropa“), apparently embraced by Jacques Derrida and Jürgen Habermas, the proper locus on the European left-right political spectrum of this notion on the one hand and of the two philosophers on the other hand, the relationship between “intellectuals” and “conservatives” — opposed? identical? occasionally collaborating? — and finally, the general meaning of the terms of European politics and intellectual debate and how they (don’t) jibe with those an American intellectual would employ.  lire le billet »

Après les élections déprimantes et frustrantes du mois dernier, le Guardian nous informe que la Commission des droits de la femme et de l’égalité des genres (c’est son nouveau nom) du Parlement européen vient d’acquérir un membre issu du UKIP, le Parti de l’Indépendance du Royaume-Uni.

Godfrey Bloom, le monsieur en question, sera un vrai champion des droits de la femme. Voici comment il envisage son rôle (c’est moi qui traduis):

Je veux m’occuper des questions des femmes parce que je crois qu’elles ne nettoient pas assez derrière le frigo. […]

Je vais faire avancer les droits des hommes. [ndlt: à ne pas confondre avec les droits humains, autrement appellés les droits de l’homme] […]

Je suis ici pour représenter les femmes du Yorkshire, qui font toujours en sorte que le repas soit prêt quand vous [sic] rentrez. […]

Aucun patron de PME qui se respecte et qui a le cerveau à la bonne place n’embauchera jamais une femme en âge de procréer. […] Je le sais parce que je suis moi-même un homme d’affaires.

Charmant.

Pour des informations complémentaires concernant l’UKIP, voir cet article paru dans Libé.

Here is Steve Bell’s (the Guardian cartoonist’s) account of Mr Kerry’s choice for a potential future vice president. It might be slightly frustrating for politically active US citizens who are deeply involved with the differences between the candidates, insofar as they are at all interested in what Europeans think. But face it, right now anybody who beats Mr Bush will do for many people here. Unfortunately, in the media I have seen, knowledge of the candidates trails far behind the perceived importance of the election. I can’t imagine another reason for the Guardian to get away with drivel like “a charismatic mill worker’s son who embodies southern charm”. There is lots of time to develop an opinion about those politicians once they are elected.