It's a pity

[tomsakic]

I also enjoyed this conversation about Leonard's French-Quebecois influences. Tchoco's insight is substancial (minority in minority in minority ). Tchoco, so you say he sung those lirycs fluently? Because I recall one French-speaking person who told me years ago, when it happened that Recent Songs was playing at my stereo, exactly on Un Canadien Errant, that Leonard's English is rusty... Doesn't sound so to me. But you're right about surrounding: in 2001 interview for French Radio Cohen treid to spoke French but it was very hard-sounding. But he stopped translating of questions to him, and answered in English The funny thing was that the journalists needed the translation of his answers back to French.

The other thing I don't know much about: I few sources I read that Leonard's poetry isn't much close to Layton's and the rest of the Montreal school (although it superficially appears so), but that it's *very* like Quebecois poetry and novels from the period. There's typical explanation that English-Canadian literature was more about two solitude and "other"while French-Canadian (Quebecois) is more connected to French roots and "lost country", and even little too traditional. Leave that out, now this seems interesting: was Leonard doing in English language the themes and style of Quebecois literature from the period? That would be interesting fact, regarding his Montreal roots, and not so surprising, I think. (Btw, is he "Quebecois writer" at all if he didn't write in French language?) - So, maybe there's more French-Quebecois in his work than we actually think. That's probaly connection to French literature of the period, as Joe put out, Sartre and Camus. I wonder did he read them in English translation (I am sure they were made promptly), or he was able to read them in French original from local bookstore?

[Tchocolatl]

I said that he once did a show in a perfect fluent French in Place des Arts. As for the version of a Canadien Errant I was talking about, it reminds me of the accent of Zachary Richard that would have drink a little too much before stepping on the stage.

Tom, Leonard Cohen has antenna that catch the ambiance and a gift to render it. Spontaneously I think of "The Drawer's Condition
on November 28, 1961" and "Stories Of The Street" to illustrate this, but it is clear in everything he is doing.

He certainly was influenced by "the majority" in Québec, like everybody who are living in Québec. The English speaking minority uses to use the same arguments than the majority wich is a minority, which is logic :a minority within a majority having the same feature (more or less) everywhere. Also a Promised Land is a Promised Land, indeed. What you said is true. Historically, France was not interested in America, so they abandoned the colonies to the hands of other countries, but the colony here never wanted to surrender and did stay faithful to France and Catholic Church, stubbornly, against everything, impossible winters, pressure of the conqueror, desertion of their "mother-land", common sense. A "crazy" bunch, really. Normally they should have surrender when France lost a war after another, and further withdraw totally from these colonies, but they don't and it gives this social shape of 2005. The roots, yes. As you stressed it. When one has roots in a land...one has.

Yes, Leonard Cohen is a Québécois writer, and Canadian and a Jew and a Buddhist, and a poet, and a folk singer song writer and a Stranger (speaking of the Stranger Song, I would like to know were somedoby is seing the influence of L'étranger de Camus, or even the influence of JP Sartre in this particular song. Really). Like I said he is consider to be one of the most important citizen of Montréal. If he has not yet a street, a building a parc a metro station or all this to his name, it is because they do it only after the person has departed for a "better world". As an official of the town stressed it, over here, we wish it will be as far in time as possible.

It was a very special period of History of Québec (and the world) when Leonard Cohen encountered the spirit of Federico Garcia Lorca in a second hand library and indeed, I think he was influenced a lot by the atmosphere around him. How could it have been otherwise, first, and being sensitive as he is - second. I think that he would be very different if he was born in Vancouver. But his work is also international as any very good artwork is.

There is a lot to say about subjects you are stressing, but a post must come to an end, at some point.

[margaret]

To go back to how well or badly Leonard speaks French, it depends on how much practice or exposure to the language he has had at a given time. I have seen/heard interviews when he does indeed appear to speak quite poorly in that language. However I recently got a dvd which includes an interview for French TV during the 1988 tour when the whole interview and his reponses were in French and the discussion included Middle East politics concerning the Israeli/Palestine situation. He seemed to be quite fluent then. It all comes down to practice.

[tomsakic]

That was the period he lived in France, I think, with Dominique Isserman.

[Tchocolatl]

I don't know, but he did the Place des Arts before, so as I already said and as Margaret just stressed it : fluency "is all come down to practice".