Description
Book SynopsisConceived as a second edition to Kawakami's acclaimed A Self-Conscious Art, which was the first full-length study in English of Patrick Modiano’s work, this book has been comprehensively updated with two new chapters, notably discussing the author's recent work and his Nobel Prize win. Kawakami shows how by parodying precursors such as Proust or the nouveau romanciers, Modiano's narratives are built around a profound lack of faith in the ability of writing to retrieve the past through memory, and this failure is acknowledged in the discreet playfulness that characterises his novels. This welcome update on the work of one of the most successful modern French novelists will be essential reading for scholars working on contemporary French writing.
Table of ContentsIntroduction
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
