Sinan: "The experience changed me in more ways than I can remember"
British alumni share their French experience with us.
Discover Sinan’s story!
Tell us a bit about yourself (where you’re from, what you do, what you have studied in France, and where)!
I was born in Trafford, just outside Manchester in the North of England. I grew up in London and attended University College London for my undergraduate and masters’ degrees before moving up to Oxford for my doctoral studies. I moved to France in my second year of my D.Phil studies in 2015, where I was Pensionnaire Étranger at the École Normale Supérieure de Paris. I later became a Maître de Langue at the same university, taking over a job which once belonged to Samuel Beckett (though, that’s where any resemblance between us ends)!
Why did you choose France?
My doctoral studies were in twentieth-century French philosophy and psychoanalysis and studying in Paris made the most sense for some archival work I was undertaking at the time. It was also an excellent opportunity to brush up on my French and attend lectures and seminars in Paris, of which there are many. I was also drawn to France for its thriving cinema scene and visual culture.
How did your stay in France change who you are and impact your career?
Living in France gave me an enormous appreciation for how things are incredibly similar on both sides of the Channel (with some crucial differences of course; think: wine, cheese, etc)! I will never forget coming across some Waitrose branded English mustard in a Monoprix in the 18th Arrondissement, our two countries are deeply and intimately intertwined. The experience changed me in more ways than I can remember, and positively impacted my doctoral research. I successfully defended my thesis in January 2020 and my doctoral thesis was heavily shaped by the classes and people I met in France.
Your favourite word in French?
Débrouillard or Dépareiller. I like French words that begin with D.
We hope you enjoyed your French culture shock! Any memorable cultural fact, experience?
Bureaucracy. The word is French after all, and you do it best. I have cried more times than I care to remember, but I survived, and now take paperasse very seriously as a result. So, … thank you?
What is your favorite French meal?
This is not a meal because there are simply too many wonderful dishes! But, there is an excellent rustic boulangerie called Au Pain D'antan near Clignancourt in Paris that sold the BEST chocolatine in France. (Note that they did not sell: “pain au chocolat”, but “chocolatine”). I still make pilgrimages to Clignancourt for the famous chocolatine, and often, too.
Have you brought back a French souvenir with you?
The library at the École Normale Supérieure were throwing out some old annuaire printed by the College de France from around the time Michel Foucault and Roland Barthes taught there in the late 1970s. I kept a few, including one that contains the Barthes’ eulogy to Foucault after his death in 1984. It is a prized possession.
Any French habit you have kept?
A healthy dose of French indignation!
Share your motto with us!
« Dites n’importe quoi ça touchera toujours au vrai. »
Jacques Lacan, Encore, (Paris : Seuil, 1975).
