Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
  1. Home
  2. Search

Refine search

Refine search

Access:
Content type:
Publication date:
Apply   From and To filters
Subject: Show more
Journals Show more
Publishers: Show more
Societies Show more
Series: Show more
Collections: Show more

Actions for selected content:

Select all | Deselect all
  • View selected items
  • Export citations
  • Download PDF (zip)
  • Save to Kindle
  • Save to Dropbox
  • Save to Google Drive

Save Search

You can save your searches here and later view and run them again in "My saved searches".

Please provide a title, maximum of 40 characters.
Cancel
×

1 results

  • 29 - The Holocaust and the Novel in French

  • from Part IV - From Naturalism to the Nouveau Roman
  • Edited by Adam Watt, University of Exeter
  • Book:
    The Cambridge History of the Novel in French
    Published online:
    04 February 2021
    Print publication:
    25 February 2021, pp 523-540

  • Summary

    The Holocaust poses a challenge to creative writers: can and should horrific events be used as the subject matter for literature? In the early post-war years French novelists were often reticent about giving direct, fictional portrayals of the Holocaust. Some developed experimental approaches which questioned and tested the limits of literary representation, crossing boundaries between truth and invention, testimony and fiction. Throughout these works there is a sense that the Holocaust both must and cannot be represented, that the memory must be kept alive even if the subject resists the capabilities of literary fiction. Despite the passing of time, there is no sign that the Holocaust is fading from the French literary scene. On the contrary, Jonathan Littell’s controversial novel Les Bienveillantes (2006) and a host of other recent publications suggest that it continues to fascinate and challenge French novelists.