Last week, Professor Douthwaite wrote the following sentence
in one of her comments: “One friend scolded me when she heard we were studying
it in class, and urged me to teach something else”. I think this remark comes
from Irène Nemirovsky’s viewpoint about the war and the occupation of France by
Germany, expressed in her book Suite
Française.
Indeed, we discussed on Monday the description of the German
soldiers in chapter 19 in which Irène Nemirovsky emphasizes their humanity and
describes them in a better way than we would have imagined. The Second World
War and the occupation of France are still very present in French people’s
minds nowadays. History as it is taught at school and the public opinion tend
to make people think of the Nazis as the worst thing that ever happened in
history. This hatred towards Germans and their undertakings during the Second
World War prevents people from relativizing in the way Irène Nemirovsky does in
her book. I think this matter is very well exemplified by the polemics
surrounding Zaz that we discussed earlier in the Seminar. Zaz only implied
during an interview that something good happened during the time of the
occupation of Paris by the Germans. This statement led to people comparing her
to a Neo-Nazi which shows how sensitive this topic is in France. Any attempt to
say that something good happened during this time period, or to describe the
Germans in a positive way will most likely be misinterpreted and lead to
problematic situations.
There might be several different reasons why French people
are uncomfortable with Irène Nemirovsky’s Suite
Française. I really think that the way Germans are depicted in the book
constitutes one of them because of the sensitivity of this subject in France nowadays.
Nicely done, thank you. I just remembered the book my friend wanted me to teach instead of Suite Francaise: La Promesse de l'aube by Romain Gary (1960). I bought a copy but I still haven't read it. Have you? Also, I am wondering about the politics of the Fondation Renaudot, which gave her the Prix Renaudot in 2004. Is that a politically-sponsored foundation? curious...
ReplyDeleteI heard about Romain Gary's book but I did not have the chance to read it.
ReplyDeleteConcerning the Prix Renaudot I am not an expert but it was created by a group of journalists and does not have the same prestige than the Prix Goncourt. The fact that both of them are awarded on the same day makes the Prix Renaudot appear like a "consolation prize" for the book which did not earn the Prix Goncourt. Moreover no monetary prize is associated by the Prix Renaudot so I don't think it needs any sponsor but I could be wrong.