Les bruits de Marseille

Résumé :

This study will focus on two songs devoted to Marseilles ; their large chronological span revealingly sums up the evolution of the popular genre called “chanson”. Each song mixes an individual and a collective story related to Marseilles ; this vibrant city is mentioned through the varied and forceful auditory sensations (whether melodious or cacophonic) it provides to its inhabitants, who can either be delighted or infuriated by them but cannot escape them. These two songs also highlight the continuous and intriguing connection between the mention of Marseilles and the reference to the art of singing, a polysemiotic art. Marseilles, which is both a port and a city, is apprehended as a space full of sounds so that its depiction leads to a metatextual play : the subject of the song mirrors the song itself in an ambiguous and symbolic way which challenges a purely mimetic approach. The din of the city and the legendary volubility of its inhabitants (labelled by the natives as tchatche) are intertwined ; this combination can be considered as an enthralling urban and musical trap.