Le Défi du roman: narration et engagement oblique à l’ère postmoderne by Elisa Bricco (review)

Elisa Bricco’s welcome new study of the contemporary French novel explores what she sees as two significant characteristics of recent fiction: an intertextual and self-conscious ‘postmodern’ approach to narration, and a form of social critique, which she labels ‘oblique’ in comparison to the more ideologically forthright political commitment of earlier generations. The study gives its attention to nine writers, a little unequally. Sylvie Germain is explored over two chapters and part of a third, Antoine Volodine has a chapter and a half, Alain Nadaud a chapter, and a few pages each are accorded to the other six writers, who are Dominique Mainard, Marie NDiaye, Christian Oster, Marie Redonnet, Jean Rolin, and Philippe Vasset. Aside from Redonnet’s Rose Mélie Rose (Paris: Minuit, 1987), all the texts examined were published in the 1990s or the first decade of this century. After an overview of the contemporary French publishing scene and the reading habits of the French population, Bricco offers a survey of academic work on the extrême contemporain. She notes that ‘roman’ now encompasses such a broad range of writing that the term ‘fiction narrative’ might be more apt. Taking postmodern narrative as her first object of enquiry, she examines self-consciousness, fragmentation, and the ‘post-exotic’ in Nadaud, Germain, and Volodine respectively, arguing that formal innovation and serious themes do not preclude a concern for well-crafted storytelling and for the reader’s entertainment. Moving on to engagement oblique in the latter part of the study, Bricco examines malaise of various kinds in the representation of modern society, with particular emphasis on women’s experience, and explores the use of humour and the fantastic as a writerly response. Through discussion of Germain and Volodine in both parts of the study, Bricco makes the point that postmodern narrative play and clear-eyed social critique are by no means incompatible. As Bricco states in her Conclusion, the study is very much ‘une lecture personnelle’ (p. 192) of the contemporary French novel, with no claim to be a systematic overview. The analysis ignores major literary figures who might support its thesis (Jean Echenoz for postmodern narrative; J. M. G. Le Clézio or Michel Houellebecq for engagement oblique), and excludes those who might counter it, as Bricco readily admits, such as more overtly committed writers like François Bon. Not a comprehensive état présent, then, but Bricco’s study is nonetheless an engaging exploration of some important contemporary writers, several of whom have not previously received the attention they deserve.