In the 1980s and 1990s French Fiction emerged from the towering shadow of the formalist literary debates of the fifties and sixties and reclaimed the ground of history, or narrative, of the individual self which has been the thrust of artistic endeavour for much of European history. The Author returned from the dead to entertain and tell stories, as well as to negotiate a path through traumatic experiences such as the legacy of France's colonial and wartime past, the Holocaust, the spectre of AIDS, the labyrinths of desire and personal identity. Colin Davis and Elizabeth Fallaize examine some of the most popular and some of the most challenging of texts which emerged during Francois Mitterrand's presidency of France (1981-1995) and relate them to the dominant literary and cultural trends of the period. The book will appeal to students at all levels who are engaged in courses in twentieth-century fiction and to readers with an interest in contemporary French culture.

• Introduction


• 1: The Story of Her Life: Marguerite Duras's L'Amant (1984)


• 2: Detective Fictions: Daniel Pennac's Au bonheur des ogres (1985)


• 3: Recalling the Past: Jorge Semprun's La Montagne blanche (1986)


• 4: Playing with the Postmodern: Jean Echenoz's Lac (1989)


• 5: Friendship and Betrayal: Hervé Guibert's A l'ami qui ne ma pas sauvé la vie (1990)


• 6: Love Stories: Annie Ernaux's Passion simple (1991)


• Conclusion: Modesty and Disenchantment


• Further Reading and Viewing


• Chronology of the Mitterrand Years


• Index

Colin Davis is Reader in French, Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford
Elizabeth Fallaize is Reader in French, St John's College, Oxford