Problème Technique
lecture-performance by Yalda Younes & Gaspard Delanoë (2011)
“نعم وكيف قبلني تحت الحائط المغربي وقلت لنفسي فليكن هو أم غيره ثم سألته بعيني أن يعاود السؤال نعم فسألني أترضين نعم لأقول نعم يا زهرتي الجبلية وأولاً وضعت ذراعَيّ حواليه نعم وجذبته إليّ لكي يستطيع الإحساس بصدري كله عطر نعم وكان قلبه يركض كالمجنون ونعم قلت نعم سأرضى نعم.”
يوليسيس، جيمس جويس —
يوليسيس، جيمس جويس —
Standing on a platform behind a desk with a microphone, a woman speaks in Arabic. Slightly behind her on the same platform, also behind a desk with a microphone, a man translates her words to a french audience. The conference seems to focus on the economic consequences of the Arab revolutions.
However, a few elements of language distilled here and there throughout the translation and a certain dichotomy between the tonality of both speeches cast doubt on the very meaning of the conference. Until a technical problem forced the translator to revise his text in panic, throwing a whole new light on the text that was spoken in Arabic.
Created for the Lyon Biennale on 11.11.11, “Technical Problem” employs acidic derision to criticize the colonial eurocentric discourses that surrounded the Arab Spring, comprised of condescending sloganeering devoid of contextual relevance, obsession with economic profitability, and blind-eyeness to autonomous desire.
lecturers Yalda Younes, Gaspard Delanoë arabic text excerpt from Molly Bloom’s soliloquy from James Joyce’s Ulysses fake french translation original text by Gaspard Delanoë production Yalda Younes, Gaspard Delanoë duration 20 min
29/10/2013
Rencontres d’Averroès, Marseille
13/10/2012
Festival Zoa, La Loge, Paris
12/06/2012
Parcours Tout Court, Les Champs Libres, Rennes
11/11/2011
Une Terrible Beauté Est Née, La Sucière, Biennale de Lyon