Patrick Modiano by Akane Kawakami (review)

The first version of this work by Akane Kawakami appeared in 2000. Two new chapters and a revised Introduction have been added in her new edition, including reflections on the presence of Nietzsche; Modiano's Nobel prize; more thoughts on his relationship to Proustian temporality; useful discussion of the post-2000 works; and his new approach to female characters. (Kawakami's analysis of Des inconnuesin the first edition of this work predicted Modiano's subsequent exploration of the female voice.) The reference to 'Modiano's Postmodern Fictions' in her original title has been dropped, perhaps an indication of the disfavour into which the notoriously vague term has fallen in some circles, although it still occurs throughout the text. While previous Modiano criticism had focused on narratological questions as well as historical, thematic, and biographical elements, Kawakami's 2000 analysis gave a particularly sustained attention to Modiano's structural and narrative sophistication. In a useful new Introduction outlining how critical attention to Modiano has developed (including its remarkable growth in France since about 2005, from a low base), Kawakami points out the increased interest in the narrative and temporal intricacies of Modiano's work. She notes the previous tendency among some critics to perceive Modiano as solely 'a novelist of the Occupation' (p. 3). (Interestingly, however, this was the focus of interest during his Nobel win, which suggests that Modiano's play with narrative form still merits emphasis.) Kawakami's first three chapters have a strong focus on literary theory (Barthes, Genette), including discussion of degree-zero voices, narrative disorder, and what Kawakami calls the 'effet d'irréel' (p. 52 et passim). This is presented in an accessible and thought-provoking fashion, as is Kawakami's later presentation of Modiano's take on Nietzsche's Eternal Recurrence. Other chapters look at Modiano's use of history and of his life story through the lens of the postmodern detective narrative, and at his general self-referential literary playfulness. They also speculate on more serious reasons behind the general consistency of the 'Modiano novel' in terms of atmosphere, narrative concerns, phrasing, and recurring details. While the bibliography and index have been updated with some recent criticism, it would have been useful to include Alan Morris's second Modiano book ( Patrick Modiano(Amsterdam: Rodopi, 2000)) and explicit reference to recent special issues of journals (for example, on Dora Bruder in Studies in 20th and 21st Century Literature, 31.2 (2007), or on Modiano et l'image in French Cultural Studies, 23.4 (2012), which has a lengthy introduction to Modiano). I noted an outdated reference from 2000 to Modiano's 'seventeen novels' (p. 113), and the persistence of a handful of slight errors of detail noted by a previous reviewer ( Modern and Contemporary France, 10.2, 2002, 260). These quibbles aside, this is a very worthwhile and lucidly written update, setting Modiano's recent work and reception in the context of his continuing narrative complexity.