Strategies for Reading French Texts

1. Strategies for Reading French Texts Le Coup de Lune (1933) by Georges Simenon Dr Georgina Collins 2 December 2011

2. This week • Le coup de lune • George Simenon as a writer • themes and influences • his representations of real life • transformation - ‘pulp fiction’ to ‘serious’ novels • writings and beliefs on colonial Africa • links to knowledge/beliefs/ideologies of his time

3. A writing phenomenon • Belgian writer • over 400 novels • created a unique world around his novels and persona • mastered the art of marketing his own work • this was recognised as important by leading critic - Antoine Albalat

4. Quotation On est épouvanté quand on suit d’un peu plus près le mouvement littéraire de notre époque. Jamais on a vu se déchaîner une telle frénésie de production, de publicité, d’argent, de réclame. Certes de tout temps les écrivains ont cherché le succès, mais jamais avec cette soif de réalisation cynique et immédiate (Albalat 9).

5. An innovative PR man • effective PR stunts • 1927 – announcement that: • write a novel in 72 hours • in a glass cage • outside the Moulin Rouge • the public would contribute to the book

6. A public contribution …de désigner, parmi cinquante types de personnages décrits à l’avance, les huit principaux protagonistes du roman, l’auteur conservant la faculté d’y ajouter des personnages épisodiques ou secondaires mais s’obligeant à réserver aux types désignés par le public les roles les plus importants (Assouline 180-181)

7. A prolific writer • glass cage stunt never took place • Paris-Matin went bankrupt • the media frenzy benefited Simenon • one of the fastest and prolific writers of his generation • 80 pages a day, a novel a week, 38 books a year!

8. La petite bourgeoisie • born in Liège in 1903 • lower middle-class family • his background plays a role in his novels • autobiographical dimension to his works • focus on petite bourgeoise

9. Simenon’s characters • conscious of social origins • reluctant to conceive concept of upward mobility • social demotion is a recurrent theme • in French – déclassement • the character thus are shaped by their social origins

10. Jo Timar and George Simenon • Timar in Libreville • not accepted by either clan • writing helped Simenon move away from the social milieu of his childhood • in his novels: • tendency to decipher • mechanisms of society • through individualistic • protagonists

11. Comparisons to other writers • Simenon’s novels: sociological motives of human life • Balzac: endeavours to translate society of his time • life-long fascination for Darwin, Carl Jung and Freud • necessity and difficulty of unifying people as societies impose rules and constraints • detective novel – ideal for exploration • of social phenomena

12. Simenon’s writing career • began in journalism – Gazette de Liège • hundreds of articles – faits divers and criminal affairs • 1922 – moved to Paris • 1924-1931 – wrote 190 pulp novels under 17 pseudonyms • Maigret emerged in late 1920s • Significant turning point in French Crime Fiction

13. A ‘serious’ writer • move away from pulp fiction • published by Fayard and Gallimard • André Gide – editorial board at Gallimard • enthusiastic about Simenon’s novels • simplicity = exceptional talent

14. Gide’s praise for Simenon On a beaucoup insisté sur la médiocrité des personnages de Simenon. Il est vrai qu’elle est effrayante. Mais ce que je remarque et qui me touche, c’est le sentiment angoissant, atroce, qu’ils ont de cette médiocrité où ils vivent; c’est l’effort, parfois, qu’ils font pour en sortir; effort maladroit, absurde et qui, le plus souvent, les plonge plus avant encore dans la gêne (Gide).

15. Writing beyond crime • non-Maigret novels: • romans durs • romans de la déstinée • romans-romans • Le coup de lune: • ambition to be recognised outside crime • fiction • Letter to Gide (1939): • restricted by crime genre formula • Plot of Coup de lune: • still fuelled by investigative motive

16. Le coup de lune and its inspiration • published in 1933 • by-product of his journalistic activity • commissioned to do reportages in Sub-Saharan Africa • Afrique Equatoriale Française & Belgian Congo • Six articles published as • L’heure du nègre • Africa – popular subject in • late 20s

17. Colonial ideology • Tintin au Congo • epitomises colonial ideology • both in Belgium and France

18. Colonial ideology

19. Colonial ideology

20. Anti-colonial discourse • André Viollis – Indochine SOS (1935) • blamed French colonial administrators for poor working conditions Albert Londres – Terre d’ébène (1929) • attacks colonial capitalism • the failure of France • inhuman labour practices on the Congo-Ocean railway • France has let its colonies down

21. L’heure du nègre • provocative tone – like Londres • questions legitimacy of colonialism • ambiguous tone: • praises French model • worried by increasing emancipation of colonial subjects • warns of Africans demanding independence • catalogues French abuses • “L’Afrique nous dit merde et c’est bien fait”

22. Real life experiences • loosely based on the author’s experiences • representation of Libreville was very convincing • lost libel case against real Adèle and Eugene • Jo Timar – based in part on his brother • personal realities are: • transposed • transformed • reassembled • fictionalised

23. Discursive tradition and discourse • This book dialogues with the ‘discursive tradition’ it is embedded in • The meaning of discourse: • knowledge coloured by beliefs and prejudices • often used as a synonym for ideology • the term was redeveloped by Michel • Foucault (1926-1984)

24. Epistemology • Foucault analysed the development of knowledge throughout history • how is it formed? • how does it change and why? • this scholarly field is called ‘epistemology’ • investigation of: • definition • varieties • sources • limits of knowledge

25. A system of statements • For Foucault, discourse is: • a system of statements within which • the world can be known • eg: a discourse on Africa/Africans: • allows an indefinite number of statements • subjected to limited set of rules • users are usually unaware of rules • Le coup de lune • has a subconscious and contains signs • meanings can be retrieved in immediate intellectual period • also in discursive tradition

26. Summary • George Simenon as an innovative writer • his move from crime to ‘serious’ literature • texts - embedded in sociological aspects of human life • reflection of his own experiences • parallels with writers – Balzac • colonial ideology - Simenon’s ambiguous tone • the book relates to the discursive tradition it is embedded in • discourse – knowledge coloured by beliefs/prejudices • epistemology – science of knowledge • the text contains signs - meanings can be retrieved

27. Next week What are the signs contained in Le coup de lune? Was Simenon able to remain uncritical when he reappropriated myths and prejudices?

28. Questions and Comments? georgina.collins@warwick.ac.uk room: H438 office hours: Tues 2-4