MARIE BERNE
After many years as an academic teaching literature and cultural studies on different continents, Marie Berne has also become a specialist of therapies and plants. Linguist, translator and published academic, she holds a PhD in Comparative Literature (UBC, Canada), speaks fluently English, Spanish and Italian and has studied various therapies for the last 10 years. She has taught literature, culture and languages in universities and schools in Vancouver, Hong Kong, Paris and London. She works as course creator, content creator and writer for diverse clients. She lives in Paris but travels to London where she collaborates with the tea merchant Postcard Teas (sourcing, training and communication).
She has published an essay on rhetoric (Eloge de l’idiotie/In Praise of Idiocy), a novel (The True Love of the Octopus/Le grand amour de la pieuvre, L’Arbre vengeur 2017), a new translation in French of GK Chesterton first novel: The Man who was Thursday : L’homme qu’on appelait jeudi (Arbre vengeur 2020) numerous translations of articles as well as various articles, poems and creative pieces.
EDUCATION & EXPERIENCE:

PhD in Comparative Literature (UBC, Vancouver, 2005)  Book: Eloge de l’idiotie, 2009

Lecturer and Researcher in Literature and Cultural Studies in Canada, Hong Kong and UK 2000-2015

Qualification Maître de conference, CNU, France (2012)

Freelance Translator (2003-present) see Translation

Herbal, Tea and Wine Sourcing, Sales and Consulting (2006-present) :

Talks and Cultural workshops (2016-present): various topics including literature, tea and bread.

ARTICLES (Find a complete list here)

«L’idiotie en famille: rhétorique et politique de l’idiot chez Flaubert et Beckett », Flaubert, Beckett, NDiaye: The Aesthetics, Emotions and Politics of Failure, Andrew Asibong and Aude Campmas ed., Amsterdam: Brill, 2017.

« Non pas cobaye mais vedette : gros plan sur l’animal vivant chez Jean Painlevé », Studies in French Cinema, (2014) Vol. 14, No. 3, 216–231. Here

« Autoportrait du scientifique en artiste : Jean Painlevé et la rhétorique de l’entre-deux », Mnemosyne, o la construzione del senso, Beatrice Barbalato ed., Presses Universitaires de Louvain, 6 (2013) 143-157. Here

« Beckett en Chine à Paris: résonance beckettienne chez Gao Xingjian», Volume « Filiations & Connexions/Filiations & Connecting Lines », Samuel Beckett Today/Aujourd’hui 23 (2012) : 127-41. Here

You were my student years ago; I praised your beautiful thesis on idiocy in my book (Bréviaire de la bêtise, Gallimard, 2008, pages 195-7) and I consider your new manuscript as a remarkable text, one of the most original I have read in years.

 

Alain Roger

Marie Berne’s writing matches perfectly her aquatic topic; some moments sound like clear-crystal poetic prose. We genuinely sympathize with this octopus in love, and with her wonderful tribute to a visionary and fantastic filmmaker  [Jean Painlevé…]. We believe in this love upsetting the borders between animal and human. Made of a melancholic and gentle music, the novel nearly makes us listen to Satie, Ravel and Milhaud…

 

Maud Simonnot

La conversation scientifique

Marie Berne invitée par Etienne Klein à parler de Jean Painlevé sur France Culture

BOOKS

Éloge de l’idiotie. Amsterdam, New York : Rodopi/Brill, 2009, 289 p. (http://www.brill.com/products/book/eloge-de-lidiotie); Read some of it Here

Le grand amour de la pieuvre (novel August 24th 2017, Editions de l’Arbre vengeur) Website : www.legrandamourdelapieuvre.com

TRANSLATION

ENGLISH> FRENCH

FRENCH> ENGLISH

SPANISH> FRENCH

ACADEMIC WRITING (HUMANITIES AND ARTS)

LITERATURE (NOVELS)

PUBLISHED TRANSLATION

G.K. Chesterton. L’homme qu’on appelait jeudi. L’arbre vengeur, 2020. More info

Jie Li’s Book Review of Sheldon H. Lu and Jiayan Mi ed., Chinese Ecocinema in the Age of Environmental Challenge. Hong Kong, Hong Kong University Press, 2009, 370 pages. Perspectives chinoises, 2012/3, 2012.https://perspectiveschinoises.revues.org/6366

Fiona Yuk-wa Law’s Book Review of Kam Louie ed., Hong Kong Culture: Word and Image. Hong Kong, Hong Kong University Press, 2010, 312 pages. Perspectives chinoises, 2012/3, 2012 https://perspectiveschinoises.revues.org/6367

Clare Finburgh « Derrière l’écran : la guerre à la télévision sur la scène anglaise ». Théâtre/Public n° 212. États de la scène actuelle : 2012-2013

SAMPLE

ENGLISH

‘Behind the Screen: War on Television on Stage in British Theatre’

War appeared on screen shortly after the advent of commercial cinema. Theatre, though, was never far from film presentations of war. Famously, images of fighting in Cuba’s Havana Harbour during the Spanish-American War in 1898, were mock-up toy ships that were exploded in a fish tank. The theatricality of filmed images of war is no less significant today, as footage on social media sites of gas attacks or of mass graves in the brutal civil war in Syria, are frequently questioned for their veracity. The aim of this chapter is to analyse the triangular relationship, as it is represented in recent British theatre, between theatre, war, and screen imagery – whether in cinema, on television or, more recently, on the internet.

 

FRENCH

Derrière l’écran: La guerre à la télévision sur la scène anglaise’

La guerre est apparue à l’écran peu après l’avènement du cinéma commercial. Le théâtre quant à lui ne s’est jamais trop éloigné du cinéma pour ce qui est de ses représentations de la guerre. On se rappelle par exemple les célèbres images de combats dans le port de la Havane à Cuba pendant la guerre franco-américaine en 1898, parodiées sur scène par des bateaux en jouet qui explosaient dans un aquarium. La théâtralité des images de guerre filmées demeure tout aussi importante aujourd’hui, au moment où la véracité des séquences montrant les attaques au gaz toxique ou les charniers de l’effroyable guerre civile en Syrie se trouve être souvent remise en question. Dans ce chapitre, il s’agit d’analyser la relation triangulaire reliant le théâtre, la guerre et l’image à l’écran – qu’elle soit au cinéma, à la télévision, ou plus récemment, sur internet – telle qu’elle est représentée dans le théâtre britannique de ces dernières années.

I have commissioned Marie Berne to do a number of academic translations for me, which have been published in French journals. Marie is extremely quick and efficient, and she has a very astute eye for style and register. She is also a pleasure to work with. I recommend her whole-heartedly. Clare Finburg

University of Kent

We are working with Marie to help execute our events both here in London and in Paris, Marie’s infectious dynamism, passion and intelligence combined with her meticulous eye for detail make her a most precious resource. Marie shares the same values as we do here at The Herball, she is truly passionate for sharing and creating ways to authentically communicate the true essence of nature, through working directly with the plants, teas and wines that she loves. Michael Isted

The Herball, London

Marie has brought positive energy, passion and commitment in contributing to our business. A real inspiration to our staff, she makes doing things properly feel totally natural, straight forward and simple. We all look forward to her training sessions which are filled with insight and lots of fun. Beyond that, the actual contribution has made a key difference in our ability to deliver excellence at our restaurant. Jack Lewens

Ellory, One Star Michelin, London

Marie has been vital for developing our business in Italy and France. Her long experience of working and living in Asia is also invaluable for a company like ours that both imports from and exports to Asia. Marie’s professionalism and personality make working with her a pleasure. Timothy D’Offay

Postcard Teas, London

Marie changed the way I drink tea. Before, it was an automatic act – kettle, teabag, mug – a practical pick-me-up in the middle of the afternoon. Thanks to Marie, I’ve learned how to appreciate tea in an entirely new way. It feels as if a secret world has opened up to me – I can now even tell an Earl Grey from an English Breakfast. Marie’s passion, not just for good tea, but also books, culture and food in general, is inspiring and wonderful to be around. Sylvia Whitman

Shakespeare and Company, Paris

 

PLANTS

HOLISTIC AROMATHERAPY

Workshops, sessions and customized remedies