'Privileged Moments' in the Novels and Short Stories of J.M.G. Le Clézio: His Contemporary Development of a Traditional French Literary Device (review)
- 'Privileged Moments' in the Novels and Short Stories of J.M.G. Le Clézio: His Contemporary Development of a Traditional French Literary Device
Written shortly before J.M.G. Le Clézio obtained the Nobel Prize, this book provides a timely overview of the works of one of the most prolific living French novelists. Keith Moser concentrates on a literary concept that is close to James Joyce's epiphany. In French letters, Marcel Proust is one of the main references or literary precursors associated with the notion of 'privileged moments', which Moser defines as follows: 'Moments of enigmatic ecstasy resulting from direct contact by means of one or more of the senses' (p. ix). Moser also discusses the fictional works of Jean-Paul Sartre and Albert Camus in this regard. One chapter is devoted to Le Clézio's early novels and short stories (he published his first novel, Le Procès-verbal, at the age of 23), which were influenced by Existentialism and the 'Nouveau Roman'. Other chapters explore privileged moments related to 'Nature's Elements', 'Musicality' and 'Shared Moments of Sexual Ecstasy' in Le Clézio's works. Moser traces Le Clézio's evolution from the 'existential angst' of the early phase of his career to 'an unquenchable desire to live life and all it has to offer to its fullest at every moment' (p. 69). Arguing that this evolution is linked to the novelist's sustained contacts with non-Western cultures, Moser examines the works of Le Clézio's mature period as a series of attempts to reconcile 'le réel' and 'le magique', in large part though the use of privileged moments. While Moser's study is wide-ranging, the novels that receive particular attention are Désert (1980), Le Chercheur d'or (1985), Etoile errante (1992) and Poisson d'or (1997). In the first two, Moser convincingly shows that 'moments of intense ecstasy abound when le Clézio's characters commune with nature' (p. 122). Moser also defends Le Clézio against charges of naïveté, pointing out that throughout his texts nature's violence is portrayed along with its marvels. Music plays a more extensive role in the last two novels, producing privileged moments of wonderment and transformation for some of the characters, for whom 'nothing else matters besides the inebriating experience itself ' (p. 141) for a very brief but intense duration. In the last chapter of his book, Moser considers 'the possibility of inner transformation' (p. 182) through sexual encounters, whose fleeting but intense euphoria is in keeping with privileged moments. Not surprisingly, it is during these moments, even more so than in the cases of musicality or communing with nature, that 'the external world seems to disappear' (p. 184). Like many first books, Moser's seems to have been adapted from his dissertation. In this case, the scripted scholarly format generates repetitive and annoying discursive tics: 'Before we begin to delve into . . . In this section we will examine . . . Then we will direct our attention to . . . '. As for the book's conclusion, it includes two paragraphs needlessly beginning with: 'In conclusion . . . '. Aside from the issue of his somewhat mechanistic stylistics, Moser has produced a well-researched and informative book that will be useful to scholars who seek to deepen their appreciation of Le Clézio's literary techniques.
