Pour envoyer la page, indiquez simplement le nom et l'adresse courriel de votre ami(e). Indiquez aussi votre nom et votre propre adresse courriel pour que votre ami(e) puisse savoir qui lui a envoyé ce message. Vous pouvez aussi, si vous le désirez, joindre un commentaire qui sera inclus dans le message électronique que votre ami(e) recevra.
Cliquez sur le bouton ENVOYER.
- L'équipe d'À l'écoute des citoyens
Le désir de lire
par Son Excellence Jean-Daniel LafondLe forum public du Point des arts qui aura lieu le 9 décembre prochain, parallèlement à la remise des Prix littéraires du Gouverneur général de 2008, s’inscrit dans la continuité de la rencontre sur la littérature que nous avons organisée l’année dernière. Réfléchissant alors sur la place des écrivains et des livres dans la société canadienne, les participants, plus de trente, - lauréats, auteurs, gestionnaires, organisateurs de festivals, libraires et bibliothécaires – avaient conclu sur une même préoccupation : la volonté de transmettre le goût de la lecture à leurs concitoyens. Il était donc naturel de poursuivre la réflexion cette année, en invitant tout un chacun à y prendre part. Car ce sont d’abord tous les Canadiens, qu’ils soient lecteurs ou écrivains, qui sont concernés par le thème que nous avons retenu cette année : Le désir de lire.
Mais suffit-il d’avoir le désir de lire pour devenir un lecteur ? Il faut d’abord savoir lire si l’on veut passer du désir à l’acte. C’est une exigence de base qu’il convient de rappeler quand on sait que, dans notre pays, trop nombreux sont ceux et celles qui éprouvent de réelles difficultés à déchiffrer un texte En effet la situation de la littératie, entendue comme mesure de la compétence à lire, est un problème actuel qui est loin d’être réglé. C’est la première condition pour passer du désir de lire à la lecture. Ajoutons que l’on ne naît pas lecteur, pas plus que l’on naît écrivain. Dans les deux cas, cela suppose un minimum de culture, une éducation du goût et un certain travail sur soi. Si l’on croit les statistiques sur l’édition, le nombre de livres publiés chaque année ne cesse d’augmenter, à tel point que l’on peut se demander si l’on ne se dirige pas vers une société où les auteurs seront bientôt plus nombreux que leurs lecteurs.
La lecture est une rencontre double avec un livre et un écrivain. Pour reprendre la formule de Roland Barthes, j’ajoute que dans la lecture se rejoignent le désir d’écrire et le désir de lire.
En ce sens, il y a sans doute en chaque lecteur un écrivain qui sommeille comme il y a en chaque écrivain un lecteur invétéré. Comment faire advenir le désir de lire ? Comment le solliciter, le cajoler et l’éduquer dans un monde trop souvent mercantile et qui fait de l’écrivain un vendeur et du livre une marchandise ? Quelle part doit-être faite par l’école, par la société, par les médias ?
Ce forum public du Point des arts vous propose de réfléchir à ces questions en vous joignant aux auteurs lauréats de 2008, pour échanger vos points de vue, et pour confronter les expériences des lecteurs et des écrivains et, j’en suis sûr, pour célébrer le plaisir de lire aujourd’hui. La meilleure façon d’unir la lecture et l’écriture est résumée dans cette belle formule de Jean-Paul Sartre : « Le roman, c’est l’entreprise d’un seul homme : lire, c’est participer aux risques de l’entreprise. »
Les quatre panélistes qui prendront la parole au cours de ce 33e Point des arts nous feront part de leurs manières originales de présenter le livre et la lecture au public. Ils discuteront de leurs démarches pour aller directement à la rencontre du lecteur, que ce soit sur Internet, dans les différentes communautés, dans les écoles ou dans les milieux de travail.
De votre côté, dites-nous quelle est la place de la lecture dans votre quotidien. Qu’est-ce qui motive votre désir de lire ? Nous vous invitons à participer à ce forum, que ce soit en personne à la Bibliothèque publique d’Ottawa, ou en publiant vos commentaires et réflexions sur ce site.
A bientôt !
Son Excellence Jean-Daniel Lafond
5 Commentaires
My grade 12 English teacher Mr.Finley, once told his class, that it is our right/left brain hemopheres which control our interests in either math or english, that we are either orientated to read or do math, that only the exceptional students can do both.
I was one of those exceptional students who was interested in both. But, developed only one--english.
Reading is like anything else, it requires learning. Reading needs to be developed daily to enable one to decifer meaning. Once learned to read effectively, one will understand meaning.
I remember as a child I couldn't read, I had difficulty pronouncing words, but I knew I was interested in reading, so I taught myself, but I wasn't able to comprehend the written english part of the school work. I had to teach myself to answer questions by doing the questions first, instead of trying to comprehend the english part. The lack of comprehension in reading set me back in math as well, because of my inability to comprehend the english in the problems in math.
By grade 5 I was an avid reader of books, but I still wasn't able to comprehend written school work. The school gave me speed reading lessons, I learned to read well, but had no comprehension of what I was reading.
It's been only since 2002 and the daily practice of reading and writing, that I am now able to comprehend everything I read.
I literally went through a transformation of self-taught--autodidact.
Anyone can teach themselves to read and speak effectively, through the daily practice of both. Just a few short years ago, I had absolutely no opinion about anything, I was purely stupid, ignorant, and uneducated, and I knew it. So I set out to teach myself to be smarter.
And if I can do it, anyone can do it! From childhood I was entrapped in bondage of myself for many years. My own father knew I was in a self-absorbed shell. Now emerging from that shell of quietude, and reclusiveness, is a teacher of high intellect, insight, intuitive ability and humbleness.
If a child never learns to read effectively, he will never speak effectively without knowledge of intelligence.
So then we have an adult who never learned to read, or write effectively, so in turn, he's not able to make himself clearly understood, and communication is misconstrued.
But, in today's computor technology, reading and writing are making computor nerds out of all of us, communication is made easy, people are voicing their opinions, or facts, and many are becoming literary geniuses.
The highlight of this wonderful evening was the few moments that I spent chatting with the Governor General. Your Excellency, you have given me a precious memory and I thank you so much for your kind words of encouragement. Migwech.
Daily reading doesn't have to be a hard or soft covered book, but any reading what-so-ever, including via-the-internet. And it only has to be for 5 minutes a day. You'll be training your brain to understand what's being said.
Reading is not easy, especially complex stuff of the educated mind. To daily read will give you an advantage, it will literally teach you what's important in an article as well as teach you how to read complex jargon. It will also teach you to speak effectively.
Complex jargon turns the reader away, because the reader doesn't understand the writer's mind. The reader associates complex jargon with education. However, schooling doesn't teach simplicity which is why many educated minds never get published, because they don't know how to keep it simple. Good writing clarifies itself, makes itself understood in a simplistic style. A good writer will bare in mind Shakesperes words "Brevity is the soul of wit" so keep it brief and simple folks.
In the writing field simplicity is preferred over complexity, because simplicity is more universally understood over complexity.
Reading is difficult especially if it has not been practiced throughout the years after schooling. Most people become literary deficient, because it is something which needs to be honed to perfection on a daily basis.
One doesn't need to like reading to master it, they only need to understand it. And understanding one's mind is to read one's mind through their style of writing.
To become a great reader is to develope a great understanding of the ideas on people's minds. It's the ideas that keep us reading. Any great writer will have their readers mesmerized, wanting to read more.
Reading entertains, informs, and educates us, the more reading one does, the smarter they become in understanding others.
A reader can read at any level of education, because the reader trained her mind to do so.
I grew up in an illiterate family background during the British colonial days in Singapore, then a British colony for more than 150 years. I went to an English-medium school and had all my years of education in the English Language all my life. Hence, the English Language became my first language, supplanting my mother tongue.
It was my first British teacher from the first day of my school life that motivated me to learn to read anything written in English. She was such a marvellous teacher and had the first library in class stacked with fairy tales and folklores that she brought from England. The second teacher who impacted me with a life-long love for reading was my Eurasian English and Literature teacher in the secondary school. Shakespearean plays, Romantic poetry, short stories and the like, imparted by an ardent teacher in love with the books he taught and brought to life, was another motivator in my developing a great passion for reading and subsequently writing.
It is much harder to delve into the thoughts and intents of writers of another language and culture. Nonetheless, it has opened the windows of my mind to a greater horizon out there of human affairs and activities of other cultures and languages.
Last but not the least, a good role model is not only reinforcing but very pervasive and persuasive as well. My son grew up to be an avid reader in his younger days and so is my four year-old grandson, Kyle, now. Kyle would not let any family member go without reading to him most of the stories that he brought that time permits.
It's true that the modern world and its demands has robbed many an avid reader once to lose their passion for reading. The vicissitudes of a world gone mad and a rat race lifestyle are perhaps some of the permanent impediments to reading for life and pleasure. Does "Reading Maketh A Man" now?