Four years ago the International Resource Center of the TSU Research Library with the assistance of the International Division arranged online lectures in French. They were given by Michele Debrenne, Doctor of Philological Sciences, Professor, Associate Professor of the Department of Romano-Germanic Philology of the Institute of Humanities of the National Research Novosibirsk State University.
At the beginning there were just a few participants, today the online lectures gather almost one hundred people, and the recorded lecture views in 2024 exceeded 10,000. Over four years, the popularity of online lectures in French has grown significantly. The lectures were devoted to a variety of topics: Multicultural France, History of Paris, France in Historical Anecdotes, Graphic Novels (Comics) in Francophone Culture, History of French Cinema, History of French Songs in the Twentieth Century, French Fine Art for ‘Dummies’ and many others. Now, by popular demand there is an updated and expanded version of the cycle La petite histoire de France (The Little History of France).
All participants characterize Michel Debrenne as “a very charismatic speaker”. We decided to get to know Michele better and asked the participants to put their questions to her (sometimes they were inseparable fr om gratitude). Below is this interview for the International Day of Francophonie which turned out very sincere, warm, deep, and in some ways unexpected.
Life journey and the difference of cultures
I would like to know in which city in France were you born and lived before moving to Russia, wh ere and why you started learning Russian, why you came to Akademgorodok and stayed there. Wh ere did you work before NSU? How did you manage to survive the difficult 90’s and have you ever wanted to come back to your homeland? Thank you in advance. Maria Tsyplakova
– I am a Parisian, I lived the first eight years of my life in Paris, wh ere both my grandfather and great-grandmother, and now my aunt, lived... This is my “small homeland”. Then we moved to the southern suburbs of Paris.
I came to the USSR because of archaeocyathid. These are very ancient fossils, and my mother used to study them – she was a paleontologist. Back in the 60’s, special literature on these ancient species was almost exclusively in Russian, and my mother asked my younger sister, and then me, to learn Russian and translate articles and monographs for her... And then her colleagues invited me to visit them in Novosibirsk Akademgorodok. I stayed for two months, and a year later I returned with serious intentions. That was 50 years ago.
I have been working at Novosibirsk State University for quite a long time, since 1994. Before that I have been working for 14 years in the Artificial Intelligence Laboratory of the Computing Center of the Siberian Branch of the Academy of Sciences. Don’t think that AI was invented recently! Back then together with the graduates of the Faculty of Applied Linguistics I worked on the creation of the so-called “expert systems” and taught the computers of that time to understand natural language queries.
In the 90’s, like everyone else, I worked part-time a lot doing translations and giving private lessons. My children were small, and I remember that their grandfather paid for their swimming pool. But they did not starve, and the house was always full of their friends. We bought potatoes in buckets then, and ate them a lot...
The most important question is definitely about the “French” cheese in Russia – is the quality comparable to the original French cheese? Wh ere to get good Camembert and chevre? The history of the hippo collection is also very interesting. But seriously, after so many years in Russia, who and how does Madame Debrenne feel herself here? To what extent has she assimilated into the culture? How strong is the connection to her homeland? Agnia Gennadyevna
– Unfortunately, I’ve been lactose intolerant for a few years now, so cheese is just a memory for me. So I can’t answer your question, since we don’t buy it anymore. My husband wouldn’t tease me about Camembert or Roquefort!
It’s much easier with hippos. In France, collecting is quite common, and convenient: you always know what to give a person. I decided to make the life of my friends a bit easier. I chose hippos, remembering how my eldest son once called me, seeing how I being pregnant with his brother get into the bath: “maman gros potame”. I knew, of course, that they were not at all as cute and funny as they are often seen. Then I also learned that the ancient Egyptians had the goddess Taweret, a hippopotamus who was the patron saint of women.
As for the second part of the question – just as every bilingual my state changes at different periods of life, the combination of several cultures in a person is not a stable phenomenon. So how and who I feel, how I live my life and so on is different at different periods of my life.
What do you find most difficult about life in Russia and what, on the contrary, is the most wonderful? Thank you. Daria Yurchenko
– I have lived in Russia for too long to answer this question. In the early years, in the USSR of the stagnation period, it was one thing, during perestroika – quite another, and so on up to today.
Do you agree with the stereotype that Russian people are sullen and rarely smile? What is the general stereotype of the Russians in France?
– I would say the opposite. When I came to the USSR, I was surprised at how much more cordial and friendly people were than the French, whose smile and ceremonial questions are formal and superficial. As for stereotypes – I have a whole monograph on this topic about the image of Russia in French-language graphic novels, so I won’t say anything briefly. Besides, times are changing. I find it difficult to say what the image of Russians is like for the French now, in 2025.
Education
I am thankful to the library and Madame Debrenne for this tremendous and invaluable work! I live far away and on a different time, so I can’t be online, but I enjoy watching the recordings – thank you so much for this opportunity! You are opening up real, living France to us, telling us things we won’t read in books. Your observations, reasoning and conclusions are invaluable! Thank you! As for questions: I wonder how did you come up with the idea of these online lectures and how do you choose a new topic for a course? Lyubov Ananova
– This is a very interesting question. On the one hand, I started out like everyone else, teaching French as a foreign language and doing translations. It immediately became clear that without knowing everything that is hidden behind the words, their cultural connotations, it is impossible to really know the language. Besides, at that time there were Romance groups at the Faculty of Humanities, and I was asked to teach a course on French history. Since I am not a historian, I decided to give a “minor history” – the knowledge of French history that makes up the cultural heritage of an average French person. Then came other courses, but all of them in one way or another reveal what the French call “la charge culturelle partagée” or Russian psycholinguists call “precedent phenomena”.
Dear Michele, how would you characterize the differences between educational traditions in Russia and France? I am very interested in the opinion of Prof. Debrenne, a linguist, philologist, and educator with a deep understanding of Russian and French realities, including historical ones. Anastasia Kolobkova
– Strangely enough, I don’t think these traditions are very different from each other... Moreover, I have noticed many times how Russia is stepping on the same rake as France, with a certain lag. That’s why I participated in projects to translate sociological studies about France in the hope that it would be possible not to repeat the same mistakes.
In your opinion, what fields of study are most popular these days?
– That’s a great question! I have recently realized that what I have been doing all my life has lost its meaning: modern people – at least students – see no point in learning foreign languages because you can communicate with smartphones and translate any text. I am sure that there is a need for a deep rethinking of all teaching, taking into account artificial intelligence and its possibilities, which we have not yet realized.
Books
It would be interesting to know about favorite books (both fiction and scientific literature), favorite comics in French (and if any, in Russian). Yulia Kraynova
– I try to read in English to practice it. A few years ago I read the novel 4321 by Paul Auster, I read it again from time to time, I highly recommend it. I read a lot of comics, but I don’t have any “favorites” – unless it is Tintin, which I know by heart, but I still remember reading them for the first time, in my grandfather’s big chair.
I am impressed by your monograph “Russia in French-speaking graphic novels”! Do you personally have any favorites among graphic novels, or is it primarily a subject of your research interest? Anastasia Berezovskaya
– Thank you, I’m glad you enjoyed it. I have prepared an “expanded” version of the monograph in French, but I can’t yet find wh ere to publish it... As for the novels there is one that I think about most often – “La terra, il cielo, i corvi” (S. Turconi and T. Radice). I read it in French translation. It is a beautifully story of an Italian and a German escaping from a POW camp during WWII. A topic that I am particularly interested in is the depiction of language contact between characters, which reflects an interesting solution in this book: all the characters speak in their own language, without translation – as in life.
What books changed your life, inspired you, supported you? Do you think home libraries are necessary and what is their value?
– This question is usually asked like this: what books would you take to a desert island? I answered it long ago: “Les Miserables” by Victor Hugo, “War and Peace” by Tolstoy, “Lord of the Rings” by Tolkien. The first of these novels is the book that turned me upside down as a child: I can see myself reading in the school textbook the page about Cosette and the big doll... That same night I asked my mother to buy me the whole novel. I was ten years old and she didn’t think I could read it. But I read it and after I read the whole Hugo...
E-books are fine for me, I don’t think a “library” in the old sense is necessary.
Favorites
Are there any French artists or songs that are particularly close to you? Maybe something to cheer yourself up? Madame Debrenne is a very charismatic lecturer, I look forward to the interview! Thank you very much for the opportunity to ask questions. Anastasia Berezovskaya
– I haven’t listened to a lot of songs lately, apparently I’m not in the mood. My music system in my car is broken, and it’s a pity, because I used to listen with pleasure, especially on long trips. I discovered the singer Juliette a few years ago: I really like her voice and the themes of her songs, for example about glasses, about “patsanka”, or about procrastination... I highly recommend her.
What are your favorite places in Russia and France?
– Unfortunately, I don’t know Russia much – it’s big! From what I’ve seen, I like Altai, but it’s not something extraordinary. France is quite diverse, it’s hard to find a “favorite place”. Most likely it is the Central Massif, I was taken there for water treatment as a child, and we drove around all the volcanoes, all the ancient churches and other sights in my dad’s old Deux-Chevaux (Citroen 2CV).
Every year I watch ALL stages of the Tour de France on TV, firstly because I’m a sports fan, and secondly because of the fantastically beautiful drone and helicopter footage. I strongly recommend it to everyone!
Please pay attention that the online lectures in French “La petite histoire de France” (“The Little History of France”) are held every Wednesday from 05:00 to 06:00 pm until April 30. You can register here: vk.cc/cIjoSL.
Lectures here: https://vkvideo.ru/playlist/-41635155_8.
The cycle of 12 lectures is organized by the International Resource Center of TSU Research Library with the assistance of the TSU International Division.
Text: TSU Research Library
Photo from the personal archive of Michele Debrenne and the TSU Research Library