Historical dream account · English · machine translation
The interrupted reading at the Sorbonne
Marcel Foucault
Le rêve : études et observations (1906) · Original 1906 edition, observation V, printed pp. 44, 45; PDF pages 62, 63
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I was in the vestibule of the Sorbonne, transformed into a lecture hall. It was furnished with chairs and benches on which a large number of people were seated. At the far end stood a large table, in front of which the lecturer stood in the uniform of an infantry soldier. He was giving a lecture on elocution, and some young men (his pupils?) were to recite or read something. First a young man, also a soldier, I think, gives a reading; I no longer remember the subject. But one of my neighbors, who happens to be one of my colleagues from the lycée at Nevers, sharply interrupts the reader, declares that he reads badly, and finally addresses him, saying: “Will you be quiet? Will you be quiet?” The disconcerted reader obeys, but near us some serious, respectable-looking ladies and gentlemen are indignant at the interrupter. I am with my colleague, who is seated on a bench, at the back of the hall, that is, near the concierge's lodge and opposite the entrance door: I am standing, ready to leave. At this moment another reader prepares to take the soldier's place: he is a civilian, a tall young man with a round face and a short black beard running around his jaw, dressed in a long, open black frock coat that reveals a broad shirtfront. He reminds me of no known face. He smiles as though accustomed to the somewhat noisy behavior of the audience. I leave before he has begun speaking, for I did not come there to hear a lecture on elocution; I entered only to pass through this part of the Sorbonne. I have an appointment in another part of the Sorbonne with M. Z..., now a professor at a foreign university. I have just reread his letter: in it he told me he would be in one of the rooms X, Y, or Z. I know approximately where these rooms are, and I propose first to follow a certain corridor, at the end of which I will find a staircase that will certainly lead me to the rooms in question. At this point the dream is interrupted.
Read the original French account
La lecture interrompue à la Sorbonne
Je me trouvais dans le vestibule de la Sorbonne, transformé en salle de conférences. Il était garni de chaises et de bancs sur lesquels un grand nombre de personnes étaient assises. Au fond se trouvait une grande table devant laquelle était le conférencier, debout, en uniforme de soldat d'infanterie. Il faisait une conférence de diction, et des jeunes gens (ses élèves?) devaient réciter ou lire quelque chose. D'abord un jeune homme, soldat aussi, je crois, fait une lecture; je ne me souviens plus du sujet. Mais un de mes voisins, qui se trouve être un de mes collègues du lycée de Nevers, interrompt le lecteur avec vivacité, déclare qu'il lit mal, et finalement l'interpelle en lui disant : « Vas-tu te taire? Vas-tu te taire? » Le lecteur interloqué obéit, mais près de nous des messieurs et des dames d'aspect grave et respectable s'indignent contre l'interrupteur. Je me trouve, avec mon collègue, qui est assis sur un banc, dans le fond de la salle, c'est-à-dire près de la loge du concierge et en face de la porte d'entrée : je suis debout, prêt à partir. A ce moment, un autre lecteur se dispose à prendre la place du soldat : c'est un civil, un grand jeune homme à figure ronde avec un collier de courte barbe noire, vêtu d'une longue jaquette noire ouverte, qui laisse voir un large plastron de chemise. Il ne me rappelle aucune figure connue. Il sourit, comme s'il était habitué à l'attitude un peu bruyante du public. Je pars avant qu'il ait commencé de parler, car je ne suis pas venu là pour entendre une conférence de diction, je suis entré pour traverser seulement cette partie de la Sorbonne ; j'ai rendez-vous dans une autre partie de la Sorbonne avec M. Z..., aujourd'hui professeur dans une université étrangère. Je viens de relire sa lettre : il m'y disait qu'il se trouverait dans une des salles X, Y ou Z. Je sais à peu près où se trouvent ces salles, et je me propose de suivre d'abord un certain couloir, au bout duquel je trouverai un escalier qui me conduira certainement aux salles en question. C'est à ce point que le rêve est interrompu.
Source & context
English machine translation. The original account, source credit and publication terms remain available.
Foucault heads this personal observation 14 November 1902. He describes awakenings at 5 AM and 7 AM, further dozing, getting up shortly before 8 AM and writing the report an hour and a half later. The lecture and the appointment remain one recalled account. His internal qualifications remain intact; the following retrospective analysis is outside the narrative.
Marcel Foucault, recorded in Marcel Foucault, Le rêve : études et observations (Paris: Félix Alcan, 1906), observation V. The book author/recorder and dreamer are credited separately. French editorial title and navigation themes added; no generated dream prose or modern translation.
Foucault heads this personal observation 14 November 1902. He describes awakenings at 5 AM and 7 AM, further dozing, getting up shortly before 8 AM and writing the report an hour and a half later. The lecture and the appointment remain one recalled account. His internal qualifications remain intact; the following retrospective analysis is outside the narrative.
Public domain in the United States (1906 edition) ↗
The original French 1906 edition is public domain in the United States by expired publication term; Archive metadata reports NOT_IN_COPYRIGHT for copyright-region US. The NoC-US statement describes this US-only basis, not a new Archive or Google license and not blanket worldwide clearance. No modern translation is used. Marcel Foucault is the printed author and the dreamer of this account; his 1865–1947 dates also support expiry in ordinary life-plus 70 territories from 2018, without asserting every territorial rule. The acquired Google-derived scan includes a noncommercial-use request for the files and attribution/watermark instructions. This account uses underlying expired text; it does not license or republish the scan files or remove their watermarks.
Source locator and text provenance
Original 1906 edition, observation V, printed pp. 44, 45; PDF pages 62, 63
The original text and redactions are preserved. The page title is an editorial navigation label.
French descriptive editorial title and navigation themes only. Complete bounded source narrative retained with internal parentheses and dialogue. Running-page/scanning furniture and the outer quotation marker are excluded from the transcription, not erased from source files. Original line wraps are reflowed, source lexical hyphens retained, and only scan-confirmed OCR repairs are made. The complete reversible raw/final ledger is pinned separately. No generated narrative, new translation or added dream episode.
- Account text SHA-256
- 9d3c225a0ba0bde2f12dfb44cf99ae836c3fa2fe4bf55dd8e6b3afb46346a710
- Source file SHA-256
- 3038f6fa4ca96a887e3a181b4e7b24178911a3ebf2da282e5c644bb9589c8dd2
Connections in the Loom
Titles, theme labels, illustrations and map connections are editorial navigation aids. They are separate from the account’s words and do not establish connections between real people.