Dr. Alain Lescart is a Professor of French Studies and Literature. He also teaches two special classes on science fiction and fantasy literature. His main specialties are in 19th century French literature and in French fantasy literature.
Listen to his Lomacast: A Point Loma Nazarene University Podcast below:
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Episode Transcript
Hello and welcome to Lomacast. A Point Loma Nazarene University podcast. My name is Jim Daichendt. I am the provost and chief academic officer here at Point Loma and what follows is a fun interview with Dr. Alain Lescart, who is a professor of French studies in literature. And as our local French expert here at Point Loma, we of course have to talk about the Olympics because it recently just happened. But along the way, we talk about American education and some book recommendations as one of our lit professors. So please enjoy and thanks for listening. Well, welcome. I'm so excited to have this conversation with our professor of French studies in literature, and I can remember the first time I met you.
Did you?
Yes, it was 10 years ago and I was a brand new dean and you kneeled beside me and you said, hello, my name is Alain Lescart.
Yes, I remember that.
And I was like, and you're like, repeat it.
Yes.
It was at Liberty Station.
Right, yes.
And so right before we started recording this, I was like, okay, make sure I'm pronouncing it right. Because every time I see you, I'm like, bonjour. And you laugh at me because I just am not pronouncing it just quite right. I took French in middle school and high school and I'm still awful at it. What's my problem?
Well, you're probably good in recognizing here, but the pronunciation is quite different. So I don't know what your professor did with your pronunciation.
Something interesting.
The students who have the most problems with pronunciation in my class are usually engineering students, but they are so good at grammar, because they understand the structure. My best student pronunciators are the art students. They can pronounce perfectly, but the grammar is terrible.
Oh, that's so interesting.
It's another part of your brain.
Right, because I could read French much better than I could speak it.
So that makes sense.
That's so great. So, well, thank you for meeting with me today and having this conversation. Your office is right above mine in the Bond Building here for folks.
Do you hear me?
No, I do not hear from you, but for folks listening, Alain comes into our office often to get coffee, and so we'll chit-chat. And I usually get an update on things that are going on. And we talk about, we have lots of mutual interests that we pursue, whether we know you teach fantasy literature, science fiction, but you also have an interest in sport and all sorts of things that I like to talk to you are exactly. And sort of my love of French culture in general, because of my area of expertise in modern and contemporary art, it's one of my favorite places to visit and study. So I'm excited to be able to talk to you. So, looking at your bio, you have a ton of education, and not only do you have your Ph.D., but you have four master's degrees. So you have an MA, an MS, an MED, and an M.Div. And I don't think everyone knows that about you.
There's even more because I began my life as a Biochemist technician. I have a diploma. When I finished high school, I was in a very specialized chemistry high school, the best of Belgium at that time. And they offer one more year after high school to become a biochemist technician. And I did it also. And it helped me to be prepared so well for university, because in Europe, you have to memorize so much. And those class were at the same level. We had to just swallow like 500 page syllabus for each class. So my training there in high school and in this very advanced science class, just prepared me well for that . And it kind of filled my interest for science, but I'm not completely science. I'm interested in so many different things, like art, music and also literature and theology. All that was my different choice. So when I finished my degree in my just technician degree in biochemistry, I did in front of me two choice. I could either continue and become an engineer, biochemist, or completely different, go into theology. And had been to different big conferences in Europe that were very centered on mission and presenting the gospel all around the world. So I pray with some elder of my church and I decide, well, I'm going to go into theology. And that was my first degree there after that. But I had also in my school, I studied three years photography, so I'm also a professional photographer also that I did before that. Basically, I'm a curious guy.
I don't think we ever finished to study and learn new things.
I'm still learning new things and it's amazing what you can learn through YouTube today, right? Like I redo the cabinets of my kitchen because it's so expensive. So I say, why don't you learn to do it?
It's just a box.
Yeah.
Right?
So that's what I did three years ago and it just saved me like a few thousand dollars doing it myself here and there. So yeah, theology was my first field of interest. I was, in fact, a missionary three years in Haiti.
I would not know that. Really?
Okay, three years I worked with very poor people with no salaries. I was just living with them. I was just being fed and lodged there with no salaries. So I spent three years of my life working with Haitian in a kind of education school. And I was calling myself the professor filling the gap because I thought class like, well, some theology class, of course, Greek Hebrew, but also political science. It was the beginning of computer, so I teach them how to use basics. I don't know if you remember you, my generation, you remember the first element there. And I'm going to do using that, I'm going to do a link to another of my interests. My first computer was a Commodore 64.
Oh, yeah, I remember those.
So it was only 64 kilobytes. And when I went to buy it, it came with a book in English and a game.
Hmm.
The name of the game was The Hobbit.
I never heard about it.
And the book was in English. So the very first book, I read page to page in English is The Hobbit.
How great is that?
Because I need to play the game. I need to know what was going on to be able to progress in the game. And from there, I say, well, I really like it. And I went to the Lord of the Ring from there and my interest for fantasy, which was very present since I was a kid because the French have been one of the main producers of fairy tales in the 17th century, 18. And when Louis XIV persecuted the Protestants, there were about 200,000 Frenchmen all around Europe and they carried with them those fairy tales. They went to Germany, and they published different books here and there. And kind of the idea of collecting folk culture, which is more connected with the romantic land of the 18, being over the 19th century, there are only people who say, well, we're just a little bit sick about classic literature. We want a literature that is more connected with our countries, and one of the most popular folk literature genres is fairy tales. So it begins the beginning of the 19th century. And that genre of fairy tales developed later into something the Grim Brothers decided to put up at a children's level. But there were other fairy tales that were absolutely not for children. So suddenly there's a split between children, fairy tales for small children, and others that are more artistic, more beautiful, that are gear, more for adults here. And something interesting, there's some very important, it developed very well in Scotland. I don't know why Scotland has produced so many authors, but there's a famous McDonald, who was a pastor in Scotland and began to write in this genre. And this is what Tolkien read when he was a kid. C.S. Lewis also read all those people here and there. And of course, Tolkien is the one who kind of completely reorganized the genre. So that kind of, I'm jumping a bit ahead, but that's why I'm teaching Fantasy, because I think it's a fascinating genre. It's not only story, but theyre' very connected with the unconscious, as you know, Freud used a lot of those stories, classic stories. And it's a new way to retell classic mythology. All those stories forbidden are coming back. When I speak about Rowling, I always say she's a tomb raider. Because if you read Harry Potter, there's so many classic myth which are recycled thing about the Cerberus the the dog with three head, just for one example, right.
Yeah.
So, yeah, that's great.
I mean, and I know that's a very popular class here.
It is, it is, yeah.
And so, even my son was one of your students.
And so, I know I've had the pleasure of sort of seeing some of the introduction videos that you've created on Canvas. And I think it's absolutely wonderful. So I mentioned that you have several degrees, but also that you've taught overseas as well before you taught here. And I was curious how you see the differences between working with students overseas versus here or if your teaching has changed over the years when you work I think one of the main difference is that because most of their education is paid by the state, you don't have to pay for it.
So the relationship between the professor and the student is, okay, you here, you get it for free, but you need to work a lot here. So the demand, the expectation is higher, but there's not so much relationship with professor and student. It's like there's a big wall between the two. That was the big difference when I came here, that here, I mean, you develop a more personal relationship with the students to help them to maybe internalize things a bit better. In Europe is that, okay, here is the class, that you give it, you pass or you don't pass, I do not care. So that's a big difference. We mean that you have really to work very hard to go through it. There's even some if you for instance, in France, if you want to become a doctor, they only accept 500 best student every year. So even if you pass the exam and your grade, and you 501, you cannot pass and continue here. So there's all kind of regulation like that. One of the big difference also I see here, because French sometimes are surprised to contemplate our American system, which is more based on a German system, which is concentrated on general education here, because we don't have that. We have a very specialized system in Europe. Like, if you want to become a biology, you're only going to have biology class. You're not going to have a class on literature here and there. One of the arguments is that high school is far more advanced to know a lot of those culture here. And in Europe also, I mean, because Europe, the country are so small, you directly plunge in a culture that is kind of natural the states spend a lot of money to have like, you can go for free in museum and all kinds of art events are free from people under 25 years old because they want the young people to be educated and know know their culture pretty well here and there, right? So that was one of the big differences, I think, the relationship between professor and student. But I really, I've learned to enjoy very, very much a liberal art education system because one of the problems in Europe is that you study one thing, if you cannot find a job, you are stuck there. You cannot do anything else. The beauty of the American system, you've been trained in a way to be more flexible, because we know that today, what you do today might be completely different than what you will do in 10 years.
That's the nature of the society today, right? So the American system is more flexible for that.
Yeah, that's really helpful to hear because even at Point Loma with the personal aspect with professors, we're probably more intentional here than even other American universities in terms of connecting with students.
Our professors are advisors.
And so they act as mentors.
So that was probably an even bigger shift.
And it probably makes the curriculum that much tougher when you can't even relate to your instructor.
So are those are great points.
The aspect of the liberal arts and being well-rounded or the liberating arts, you, studying outside, wherever your profession is. It's interesting. That's a European concept when you go back to it, right?
The liberal arts reformed in the medieval era. And they've changed over the years in terms of what subjects were part of the liberal arts. Now we think of, you know, all the arts and humanities and the sciences, et cetera. And that is an exciting part of why I think we love teaching the way we do here is because our students have access to all these different ways of thinking. But also as professors, as a curious person yourself and myself, it's like super exciting to talk and collaborate with colleagues that come to this place with so much knowledge that we can't even dream of or ways of thinking. And it just makes it a much richer place to be altogether.
Yes, absolutely.
And I became very sensitive to that topic because I had to wrote a thesis for my master and the topic I picked was Children's Education in 16th century. How do the Lutherian, the Calvinists, the Anabaptists, the Catholic, the humanists, see suddenly, oh, we need to send our kids to school, and how they view education was very central in the beginning of our world. In fact, oh, if you go back to modernity in a way beginning 16th century, when suddenly everybody needs to go to school. Well, one of the first reasons was for religious reason, because they want everybody to be able to read the Bible, so that means all our kids need a basic education to be able to discover by themselves and not simply the church telling them what the Bible contains, but have this full access. So that was one of the main motivations is to be able to read, to write, but it was far more than that. You think about they had to know different language. So I became very sensitive to the beauty and the importance of that when I finished my master in theology.
I love it. So we're just like a month out from when the Olympics took place in Paris. And I would be remiss if I did not mention something about that because Paris and France in general were put on display and like one of the most magnificent ways through the Olympics. And we've talked about it several times about how exciting that was. But I just adored how the city was highlighted through architecture, through culture, and with sport either being the background or foreground, depending on what, you know, whether it was ceremonial or through the competitions. But curious to get your take on how it went, now that it's over.
It's been a few weeks. We've heard reviews. Well, there's the Paralympic Games going on right now. But I think the organizer did an amazing work and the French were very proud to see what they did. Of course, first, there was some negative reaction, because to be French, is to protest, part of the nature of being French. And my friend in Paris were very upset because the mayor of Paris closed many railway stations. It was so complicated to navigate, the increase the price of transportation, even for the Parisians at that time. So they only saw those negative elements. But if you look at the big game, you see, I mean, the public was just so excited about it and the French did extremely well this year. We're very proud about Léon Marchand, the swimmer that we were just amazed.
By the way, he has a man, the same team trainer as the American.
Oh, does he really?
It's the same guy.
That's interesting.
It's the same guy.
So the French hire, the same trainer as our famous American over there.
So, yeah, it was beautiful. It was really a beautiful thing. I was just surprised. Like using Versailles for the horses. The arrival of the race or the cyclist at the Eiffel Tower, it was just magnificent, right? And even the opening, I know there was a big discussion about this famous representation, which the French have nothing to do with Christianity. So they were not trying to represent Jesus, but it went a little bit crazy there. And the French were surprised I said, why do people? Because they didn't even see that. Well, we have a limitation usually of like imagery that we're familiar with from history. And so that Last Supper scene is not what was recreating.
Yeah, yeah, it was.
But that's tends, I mean, that's a very famous image. But even the French, this is the French name say, what the heck was that? Even the thing it was the bad part was that really hard. So even the French criticized Everybody agreed that was.
Yeah, that was not that good, right?
The rest was magnificent by that part.
She's sang live.
She's the only one who sang live.
There was some reaction because, you know, she was paid $2 million.
I did not know that. To sing that.
So people say, that's really expensive.
But she hadn't sung for one year was her first time after because she had some voice issue here, but a rendition of the song was just magnificent, where people were crying, listening to her. So it was beautiful.
I'm sure.
I mean, the salaries, it's when you get into salaries of what things cost, I mean, hearing what Snoop Dogg was paid.
Yes. Millions and millions of dollars to be on TV to promote the Olympics.
It's like, do we need that?
Yeah.
We might be okay.
But it's still fun.
It's something that we all have in common.
It's a way.
It brings so many people together.
Yeah, and you know, that's the main part.
The beautiful part of the Olympic games is you have people of all nations coming together, and the idea is to show, instead of fighting each other, so it's the contrary of a war, let's come together.
Of course, there is competition here and there, but there's also between athletes, a way to connect, and it's always very moving when you see the gold, the silver and the bronze, and they just recognize each other and give accolades. There's wonderful things that happen.
Yeah, and the designs of the medals were amazing.
Yeah, a little piece of the Eiffel Tower.
Yeah, a little piece of the Eiffel Tower.
The presentation of them was incredible.
It was so fun to watch.
And there's so many narratives that happen and you can get sucked into them so well.
But I just love the backdrop.
So yeah, so that was fun to talk about. So I mentioned we mentioned earlier that you teach fantasy and science fiction. And I'm always looking for recommendations. And I think listeners would be interested in the books that you teach. And this is over the years. I know the books do change. Are there certain books you recommend, the folks that, oh, you have to read this. Like, this is a staple. If you, if you're a fantasy fan or a science fiction fan, and if you haven't read it, here's a list for you. Tell us why.
So fantasy keeps changing every 20 years because there's like, let's say, Tolkien is the first very modern writer, because you really find classic themes like the evil elves, which was his little tiny spirit flying in the air. He gave a certain curiosity and grandeur and he creates such a world that everybody has to copy him. Everybody has to write a trilogy, and every volume is 500 pages. This is because of Tolkien here and there. So the next generation, you know, it's always a story. When you have a father, you try to kill the father to do something new. So we have others that really just hate Tolkien here, like Moorcock Moorcock is still alive today and he wrote a story of an albino sorcerer that has a magic sword that he cannot control. It's in the 1960s, it's very influenced by Karl Jung also. There's certainly a sexual element, the fact that men cannot control their sexuality. So there's a lot of things going on around that topic. So if you want to read something original, it'll be Moorcock as well. And it's all short stories.
Okay.
But I always finish my class in fantasy. I'm trying to finish with something extremely contemporary and to show that how much dejour is not only about dwarf and elf going in another country, but it can happen today. And I think one of the most amazing pieces that I do with my students is American Gods by Neil Gaiman. Gaiman is probably one of the most popular today, still writes, you come with a new book every year. I've seen him several times at Comic Con here in San Diego. And American Gods is the premise that this country is made of immigrant, and they all came with their gods. The first one being the Viking, so Odin being an important one. So you have America is made of this kind of patchwork of culture and gods and there's a fight between the all gods and the new gods. Just so interesting to see how we capture not only that, but also Americana. He went all around the United States, and it's a real. The guy is British. And you say, you know, this country so well, because he did such an important study and there's so many mythology here and there. So Neil Gaiman and I mean, he wrote a lot of a books. It's certainly one of the most prominent today and interesting guy, one thing about modern, because it happened today in our society, his protagonist, is a convict going out of jail. So you're nothing about your main hero being a convict, right? But he's a good guy, in fact. Fact, right? So it's always the idea that, okay, we are sick about a classic hero, or can we just twist a new hero that is a bit closer to us and that we can relate a little bit better. So that's a more important part. Of course, in science fiction, I finish with the big favorite of the student. You probably have heard about it. It's Ender's game. The Ender's Game series is just so popular today and so smart. Very well designed. So I do recommend any, I mean, the first Ender's Game, what's amazing to me is that Scott, Orson Scott, wrote a book with exactly the same story. Say, how can you publish a certain story which is exactly the same story? But from the perspective of being another kid, and it's amazing, say, I mean, just, wow, you can rewrite the same story from an ad person and make it as much interesting. So it's really, I mean, it's really great for do this. So I do recommend all the Ender's Game series. There's so many, you have probably like more than 10 books to read.
That's super.
Thank you for that.
You're welcome.
I'm excited about American Gods, actually.
I have not read that.
You have not read that.
No, I need to.
And that's.
No, I need to warn you. I mean, the vocality of can be a little bit more vulgar and sometimes because he's trying to capture the way people speak every day and there's some scene that maybe a bit tough, but I mean, it's a great piece, I believe.
So yeah.
Well, thank you.
This has been fun.
So thank you for doing this. Where can, if you want to point folks to learn more about your work? Because I know you have several books and articles and we sell them here in the bookstore. But where can folks find more about your research and scholarship?
So for my Ph.D., my main interest in consultation was the representation of Grisette in the 19th century, which is seamstress. Poor seamstress woman. I'm going to give you an example that may be going to help. I suppose most of you have at least seen the Broadway show Les Misérables. In Les Misérables, there's Fantine. Fantine is the mother of Cosette. She is a Grisette. She is a poor, simstress girl that is abused by man, and she's going to have because she needs to take care of her kids, she's going to have to prostitute herself in here. So my thesis is about the presentation of that character, which is extremely prominent from the 17th century, but mainly in the 51st years of the 19th century, there's a grisette everywhere, not only in France, but if you go in Great Britain, like Charlotte Bronte, in her novel, every woman in France is Grisette, according to that model, I wrote an article that was published in the Bronte journal, as a matter of fact. So yes, so I wrote that's in French. It's not translated in English. So that part is. But if you go on, if you just go to Amazon and just put my name and you'll find, well, I mentioned my tease about the education of children in the 16th century, I just, it's there to be final so. But more recently, I've been concentrating more on writing science fiction and fantasy, more for children and young adults, so you'll find things there. My science fiction story is called Cybernicat, because we didn't have the time, but also I breed cats, right? So the premise is that we there are too many people on this planet. We need to migrate on another planet, but there's no way we can send men and billions of light years from here, I mean, millions of lights here from here. It's just too far away. So the only way that could happen, I say, is that if there's are just going in a ship and men are just unborn, you just have their DNA when they arrive there, they will just produce the children which is a new beginning for humanity here. So and it's a story about all the competition because of course, so there's two android, a man and a cat android that carry all the DNA of humanity . And of course, it's only the rich people who wants their DNA to be preserved. So it's a classic kind of capitalistic issue, how are they' going to be able to have a sample of of diversity of following. So that's Cybernicat. And I have two story one that I wrote when I was 24, which is a story of a little girl that is born on Wednesday afternoon and she discover a hidden room in her attic, and there's two chests, a purple one and an ivory one. And inside those chests, there's real chess game character. And they have all a negative or positive influence, so it's about her making good shows or bad shows . And then I did a second story which she entered in a fairyland and she has to help. It's a very classic fantasy story. There's an evil going on and she's going to help with a boy to get rid of the evil of that land, right? So that's what's's available right now. I just finished two novels for older, but right now I have kids 13, 14, read them to get some feedback to see, is it good for you?
Is it here?
Do I need to change something? So I'm testing those books before. I go and I'm trying to find literary agent, which is difficult and hard product.
Yeah, I know.
I know how that works.
But yeah, that's fantastic.
So, yeah, Amazon's a great way.
Thank you for this.
This was a lot of fun.
And we'll look forward to the next time we get the chat together.
Thank you very much.
Have a great day.