CLARISSE / L’ART DE PERDRE

First the students discovered a contemporary novel : L'Art de perdre (2017) written by Alice Zeniter through a few extracts and the topics it deals with : origins, identity, family, consequences of a war on Men. They also learnt about the different French literary prizes for which this book has been awarded : the Livre Inter prize, the Express readers' prize, the Closerie des Lilas prize, the Renaudot prize for high school students. Then, two actors came to the high school to present a hybrid form (theatre, cinema, radio) that linked fiction and reality, through a character from the novel, Clarisse, who told the story of the other characters. The show was presented as an interview in which a mediator introduced Clarisse and invited her to give a testimony and announced from the beginning the possibility of an exchange at the end of the meeting. Two weeks later, the students went to the “Bateau Feu” to watch a theatrical adaptation of the novel which linked the novel, the story of an Algerian family over three generations with the immigration territory that is the “Hauts-de-France” area, by going to meet the families.

Between the 2 shows, the students questioned their own history : did the story of the novel lead them to question their own history ? What do they know about their parents and grandparents ? What do they know about their own history, that of their parents, their grandparents ? Does this influence who they are? How do they position themselves in the world when the transmission has not been made ? Can knowing the history of others, making a path towards the other, finding a common social belonging, help to increase understanding and tolerance ? Then each of them made a video in which they had to analyse their feelings about the Clarisse show, which opens up their personal history.