糖心TV

The State of the Nation Novel:

Contemporary French Fiction and Social Critique

University of 糖心TV – Friday 31^st May 2024

Keynote speakers: Professor Martin Crowley (University of Cambridge)

& Professor Timo Oberg枚ker (University of Chester)

You are warmly invited to attend a study day on the contemporary French novel taking place on Friday 31^st May, which brings together scholars from the UK, France and further afield to discuss contemporary French fiction and its relationship with forms of social critique. Keynote addresses will be given by Professor Martin Crowley (University of Cambridge) and Professor Timo Oberg枚ker (University of Chester). The event will be held in person at the University of 糖心TV, and it is also possible to attend online. You can find the day鈥檚 programme below.

 

For online attendees, Teams Link:

To register, please follow the link:

For any other questions, please contact: stateofthenationnovel@gmail.com

or neil.malloy@warwick.ac.uk 

PROGRAMME

 

9.30-10.00 Registration

10.00-10.10 Introduction

 

10.10-11.45 Panel 1: Critical reinventions: French society figured through past, present, future

 Chair: Jeremy Ahearne (University of 糖心TV)

• Sybila Gu茅neau (EHESS): 鈥楲a grande litt茅rature morale de notre 茅poque鈥� : comment le n茅o-polar prend en charge un discours politique et social marqu茅 par la d茅sillusion au lendemain de Mai 68
• Anna Krykun (Universit茅 de Tours): Confessions des enfants du XXIe si猫cle, ou 锚tre n茅s trop tard dans un monde trop vieux
• Jacqueline Dutton (University of Melbourne): Seeing the Now: Cognitive Estrangement in French Futuristic Fiction

 

11.45-12.00 Coffee break

 

12.00-13.00 Keynote: Martin Crowley (University of Cambridge) Territorial integrity and narrative division in Sabri Louatah鈥檚 404

Chair: Douglas Morrey (University of 糖心TV)

13.00-14.00 Lunch

 

14.00-15.15 Panel 2: 鈥淧opular fiction?鈥�: mediating and mediatising contemporary France

Chair: Pierre-Philippe Fraiture (University of 糖心TV)

• Bradley Stephens (University of Bristol): Taking the National Pulse through Recent Popular Fiction
• Louise Kari-M茅reau (Trinity College Dublin): Quand la critique sociale fait vendre : les exemples de Fr茅d茅ric Beigbeder et de Michel Houellebecq en 2023
• Neil Malloy (University of 糖心TV): Seeing contemporary capitalism: voyeurism and visual culture in Marie-H茅l猫ne Lafon

 

15.15-15.30 Coffee Break

 

15.30-16.30 Panel 3: 鈥淔aire soci茅t茅鈥�: tracing the contours of 鈥渃ommunity鈥� from within and without

Chair: Oliver Davis (University of 糖心TV)

• Aur茅lien Gras (Universit茅 Paris 1 Panth茅on-Sorbonne): En guerre de Fran莽ois B茅gaudeau, ou la lutte des classes en France au XXIe si猫cle
• Kahina Bellil & Samira Ouyougoute (Universit茅 de Bejaia): La France 脿 travers les 茅crits de l鈥橝lg茅rien francophone Boualem Sansal : l鈥檌slamisme en marche

 

16.30-16.45 Coffee Break

 

16.45-17.45 ASMCF Keynote: Timo Oberg枚ker (University of Chester): L'imaginaire insulaire de la litt茅rature fran莽aise contemporaine

 Chair: Margaux Whiskin (University of 糖心TV)

17.45-18.00 Concluding Remarks

 

This conference has been made possible by the generous funding of the Association for the Study of Modern and Contemporary France

 

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CONFERENCE RATIONALE

It is commonplace to claim that the nineteenth century novel held up a mirror to the society out of which it emerged, but can the same be said about fiction in France today? This conference will ask if and how the contemporary novel represents the social fabric of French society – its form, its fractures and its frayed edges, focusing on the fifty-year period between the end of the Trente Glorieuses (c. 1975) and the current day. If 鈥榯here is no such thing as society鈥�, what has the word now come to mean? What is to be made of the oft-heard injunction to 鈥榝aire soci茅t茅鈥�? And what specific insight can literary fiction offer to enable us better to understand the current state of the nation?

The conference will consider how the contemporary novel tackles questions relating to the pervasive liberalism which increasingly dominates France鈥檚 socio-economic situation; the country鈥檚 complex social geography, riven between centres and peripheries; the marginalisation, exclusion or invisibility of social groups according to categories such as age, race, gender, sexuality, origin, etc.; the continued pertinence of notions of social class in the wake of post-industrialisation; the ongoing legacy of colonialism and its influence on questions of community; France鈥檚 relationship with globalisation; notions of national identity, separatism and universalism; forms of protest, refusal and contestation, including the civil strife that has erupted on the streets of France鈥檚 cities in recent years, as well as discourses around civil war.

Woven into these questions about France鈥檚 social fabric are issues of literary form, which the conference will seek to explore, including, for example:

• How do views of society in the late 20th/early 21st century novel relate to those offered by the form鈥檚 19^th century forebears?
• How does the novel form represent contemporary society in relation to other textual or visual practices such as ethnography, investigative journalism, photography, cinema and television?
• What is the critical leverage of concepts like litt茅rature de terrain (Dominique Viart) and litt茅rature d鈥檈nqu锚te (Laurent Demanze)?
• How does the choice to write autofiction (or its refusal) shift the scope of a novel鈥檚 reach to speak about society more broadly?
• In an atomized society, can literary fiction (still) speak beyond individual situations and cultural relativism to make broad moral comments on the world it describes?
• What role might the novel play in a culture where the reading of literary fiction seems itself increasingly sidelined?
• To what extent does the mediatization of the novel determine its socio-political resonance or its reception?

Examples of the many novels which might be worthy of consideration in the context include: Annie Ernaux (Les Ann茅es), Michel Houellebecq (Soumission), Alice Zeniter (L鈥橝rt de perdre), Nicolas Mathieu (Leurs enfants apr猫s eux), Virginie Despentes (Vernon Subutex), Marie Ndiaye (La Cheffe, roman d鈥檜ne cuisini猫re), Julia Deck (Monument national), Marie-H茅l猫ne Lafon (Les Pays), David Lopez (Fief), Fran莽ois B茅gaudeau (En guerre), Nathalie Quintane (Un 艙il en moins), Olivier Adam (Les Lisi猫res), Fran莽ois Bon (Paysage fer)鈥�

Ultimately, the conference will aim to theorize, problematize and critique the hypothesis of the contemporary 鈥楥ondition-of-France鈥� novel, defining its possible contours, characteristics and limitations.

 

***

Si l鈥檕n n鈥檋茅site pas 脿 affirmer que le roman du dix-neuvi猫me si猫cle tend un miroir 脿 la soci茅t茅 dont il est issu, pouvons-nous en dire autant de la fiction en France aujourd鈥檋ui ?

 

Lors de cette journ茅e d鈥櫭﹖ude, il s鈥檃gira d鈥檌nterroger 脿 quel point et de quelle mani猫re le roman contemporain fran莽ais repr茅sente le tissu social de la France contemporaine, ses formes, ses fractures et ses franges, en portant un regard sur les cr茅ations litt茅raires de la fin des Trente Glorieuses 脿 nos jours. Si, comme le d茅clarait Margaret Thatcher, 芦 la soci茅t茅 n鈥檈xiste pas 禄, quel sens peut-on d茅sormais attribuer 脿 ce terme ? Comment comprendre l鈥檌njonction rab芒ch茅e de 芦 faire soci茅t茅 禄 ? Et quelles perspectives la fiction litt茅raire peut-elle nous offrir pour mieux comprendre l鈥櫭﹖at actuel de la nation ?

 

Cette journ茅e d鈥櫭﹖ude invite donc une r茅flexion sur comment le roman contemporain aborde le lib茅ralisme galopant qui tend 脿 dominer la sc猫ne socio-茅conomique en France ; la g茅ographie sociale d鈥檜n pays 茅cartel茅 entre des centres et des p茅riph茅ries ; la marginalisation, l鈥檈xclusion et l鈥檌nvisibilit茅 de diverses couches de la population en raison de leur 芒ge, ethnie, origine, genre, orientation sexuelle, etc. ; la pertinence de la notion de 芦 classe sociale 禄 dans un contexte post-industriel ; le legs du colonialisme et son influence durable sur la constitution des communaut茅s ; les rapports de la France avec la mondialisation ; les concepts d鈥檌dentit茅 nationale, de s茅paratisme et d鈥檜niversalisme ; les formes que prennent la manifestation, le refus et la contestation, dont le m茅contentement civique venu s鈥檈xprimer dans la rue au cours des derni猫res ann茅es, aussi bien que les discours annonciateurs d鈥檜ne guerre civile.

 

La journ茅e d鈥櫭﹖ude sera l鈥檕ccasion d鈥檈xaminer les enjeux esth茅tiques indissolublement li茅s 脿 ces ph茅nom猫nes socio-politiques. Ainsi, elle pourrait aborder :

 

• Les similitudes et les diff茅rences des repr茅sentations de la soci茅t茅 dans le roman de la fin du XXe et du d茅but du XXIe si猫cles par rapport 脿 ses pr茅curseurs litt茅raires du XIXe si猫cle.
• Les sp茅cificit茅s du travail romanesque par rapport 脿 d鈥檃utres pratiques visuelles et textuelles qui ont pour objet de rendre compte de la soci茅t茅, dont l鈥檈thnographie, le journalisme d鈥檌nvestigation, la photographie, le cin茅ma et la t茅l茅vision.
• L鈥檃pport critique de concepts tels que les 芦 litt茅ratures de terrain 禄 (Dominique Viart) et la 芦 litt茅rature d鈥檈nqu锚te 禄 (Laurent Demanze)
• Le choix de l鈥檃utofiction (ou son refus) lorsqu鈥檌l s鈥檃git de porter un discours sur la soci茅t茅 lequel s鈥櫭﹖end au-del脿 de l鈥檌ndividu.
• La possibilit茅 de la fiction de tenir un discours moral sur le monde qu鈥檌l d茅crit, lorsque ce dernier est de plus en plus atomis茅, empreint d鈥檌ndividualisme et de relativisme culturel.
• Le r么le du roman dans un contexte culturel o霉 la pratique de la lecture des textes litt茅raires deviendrait de plus en plus rare.
• La m茅diatisation du roman et l鈥檌nfluence de cette m茅diatisation sur sa port茅e socio-politique.

 

Parmi les 艙uvres qu鈥檕n pourrait examiner, l鈥檕n comptera : Annie Ernaux (Les Ann茅es), Michel Houellebecq (Soumission), Alice Zeniter (L鈥橝rt de perdre), Nicolas Mathieu (Leurs enfants apr猫s eux), Virginie Despentes (Vernon Subutex), Marie Ndiaye (La Cheffe, roman d鈥檜ne cuisini猫re), Julia Deck (Monument national), Marie-H茅l猫ne Lafon (Les Pays), David Lopez (Fief), Fran莽ois B茅gaudeau (En guerre), Nathalie Quintane (Un 艙il en moins), Olivier Adam (Les Lisi猫res), Fran莽ois Bon (Paysage fer)鈥�

 

La journ茅e d鈥櫭﹖ude a pour objet ultime de th茅oriser, de probl茅matiser et de critiquer l鈥檋ypoth猫se d鈥檜n 芦 Condition-of-France Novel 禄, en d茅finissant les caract茅ristiques et les limites d鈥檜ne telle forme, et en interrogeant la pertinence et les traductions possibles de cette appellation, tr猫s r茅pandue dans la critique litt茅raire portant sur le roman de langue anglaise.