Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- 1 Degree Zero Voices: The Empty Narrator
- 2 Disorderly Narratives: The Order of Narration
- 3 Unreal Stories: The ‘effet d'irréel’
- 4 Being Serious: Modiano's Use of History
- 5 Being Playful: Parody and Disappointment
- 6 Being Popular: The Modiano Novel
- 7 Being a Woman: Mothers and Lovers
- 8 Being Eternal: The Endless Recurrence of Time and Writing
- Notes
- Bibliography
- Index
4 - Being Serious: Modiano's Use of History
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- 1 Degree Zero Voices: The Empty Narrator
- 2 Disorderly Narratives: The Order of Narration
- 3 Unreal Stories: The ‘effet d'irréel’
- 4 Being Serious: Modiano's Use of History
- 5 Being Playful: Parody and Disappointment
- 6 Being Popular: The Modiano Novel
- 7 Being a Woman: Mothers and Lovers
- 8 Being Eternal: The Endless Recurrence of Time and Writing
- Notes
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
Une nuit de mars 1942, un homme de trente ans à peine, grand, l'air d'un Américain du Sud, se trouvait au Saint-Moritz, un restaurant de la rue Marignan, presque à l'angle de l'avenue des Champs-Elysées. C’était mon père. […] Dix heures et demie du soir. Un groupe de policiers français en civil entrent dans le restaurant et bloquent toutes les issues. […] Les policiers français les poussent dans le panier à salade avec une dizaine d'autres personnes pour une vérification plus minutieuse rue Greffulhe, au siège de la Police des Questions juives.
Livret de famille, p. 127Modiano is still best known for writing novels set in the Occupation. His apparent obsession, especially in his earlier works, with this dark period of French history has been the main concern of his critics and reviewers. It is certainly a controversial subject: it was one of the main causes for the impact that Modiano's first novels had on the public, instantly creating a reputation for the young author. We may wonder, however, whether there was more to this reaction than that of simple choice of subject matter. What is the nature of Modiano's treatment of the subject? Is it noticeably more provocative than that of other novelists? If so, how does this manifest itself on the level of narrative, and what is the effect on the reader?
There is a group of novelists who concentrated their efforts on the subject of the Occupation, and with whom Modiano is sometimes classed: a post-war literary movement, that of the mode rétro. The term mode rétro is commonly used to describe the many works of fiction set in the Occupation which appeared after 1970, usually by writers of a generation too young to have experienced the War. Born in 1945, Modiano falls into this category by virtue of age and theme, and some reviewers and critics have therefore chosen to view his work solely in this light. This classification, however, results in a regrettably simplified assessment of Modiano's work and of the relationship it bears to the facts of the Occupation, which differs significantly from that of the mode rétro writers.
In order to demonstrate this difference, we must examine Modiano's use of historical facts in some detail, and the reasons behind it.
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- Information
- Patrick Modiano , pp. 69 - 90Publisher: Liverpool University PressPrint publication year: 2015