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The Cambridge Introduction to French Literature by Brian Nelson

2016; American Association of Teachers of French; Volume: 90; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1353/tfr.2016.0089

2329-7131

Edward Ousselin,

French Literature and Criticism

chapitres sur les dix que compte l’analyse de Nacache Ruimi. Petit bémol, en dépit de la qualité critique de cet ouvrage, on se prend parfois à regretter que ce qui était au départ une thèse de doctorat continue un peu trop à ressembler à un exercice scolaire, bien que celle-ci ait été “adaptée” (7). Southwestern University (TX) Francis Mathieu Nelson, Brian. The Cambridge Introduction to French Literature. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2015. ISBN 978-0-521-71509-6. Pp. xx + 298. £19. Divided into thirty short chapters, each of which is devoted to a‘major’author, this introduction is at once easy to read and solidly grounded in recent scholarship. As Nelson points out in his preface, “this book makes no attempt (how could it?) to provide comprehensive coverage”(ix). This is of course understandable in the case of a one-volume introduction that seeks to present so many writers, from the end of the Middle Ages (Villon) to the end of the twentieth century (Beckett). For instance, eight pages are allocated to Molière, six to Stendhal, and eleven to Proust. Quotations from French literary works, which are sometimes substantial, are provided both in translation and in the original.A succinct chronology of historical events is provided, as are suggestions for further reading. In passing, it should be noted that Cambridge UP also publishes a separate introduction to Francophone literature. As always, the choice of authors presented in The Cambridge Introduction to French Literature is somewhat subjective and leaves room for criticism. Did Huysmans and Jarry really deserve a chapter each, alongside the likes of Baudelaire or Flaubert? Why is there no chapter on Montesquieu, Verlaine, or Maupassant? But these issues are minor in comparison to this introduction’s almost total exclusion of female authors. Only one chapter is devoted to a woman, Mme de Lafayette. Apparently, Germaine de Staël, George Sand, Colette, or Marguerite Yourcenar do not qualify as‘major’authors. In the last chapter,“French Literature into the Twenty-First Century”(the only one that is not devoted to a single author), Nelson sets aside a few pages to discuss“Duras and Other Women Writers.”This chapter also succinctly touches on le nouveau roman, OULIPO, and autofiction. Here again, the limited range of authors who are very briefly covered can be critiqued. While Marie NDiaye’s work is appropriately mentioned, Jonathan Littell’s influential novel Les Bienveillantes is not. Patrick Modiano is referenced as a Nobel prize winner, but not J.M.G. Le Clézio. The last two pages characterize Michel Houellebecq as “the most famous and the most controversial living French writer” (241), which some readers may see as a cause for despair. Overall, with the major caveat of the book’s androcentrism, Nelson’s well-written introduction will be useful to instructors who teach undergraduate-level French literature survey courses. Western Washington University Edward Ousselin 274 FRENCH REVIEW 90.2 ...