Existe-t-il un style Minuit? éd. par Michel Bertrand et al. (review)

cinématographique approfondie, remarquable et originale dans son approche qui place le spectateur diasporique,multiple et variable au centre de la réflexion.Spécialistes et amateurs de film africain apprécieront beaucoup cet excellent travail. Davidson College (NC) Caroline Beschea-Fache Literary History and Criticism edited by Marion Geiger Bertrand,Michel,Karine Germoni,et Annick Jauer, éd.Existe-t-il un style Minuit? Aix-en-Provence: PU de Provence, 2014. ISBN 978-2-85399-939-7. Pp. 273. 24 a. One frequently hears that Minuit is the one publishing house which has its own distinct style. The problem begins with the effort to explain the exact nature of that style. The editors of this volume should be congratulated for addressing this question directly. Existe-t-il un style Minuit? consists of twenty-two essays by different authors and is divided into three sections. “Analyses d’ensemble” confronts the issue of a putative Minuit style most directly. “Études monographiques” analyses a variety of Minuit novelists, both in terms of style and other factors. That these essays usually wander off the specific topic is a quality, since it enables the authors to provide a richer analysis of the works and artists discussed. “Minuit en pratique(s)” provides fascinating discussions of using the question of a Minuit style as a frame to inspire and provoke aspiring writers in ateliers d’écriture and in a literature course taught at the University of Jordan in Amman. It will surprise no one that the contributors to this volume come to no firm decision about the Minuit style, but their speculations are thoughtful and even at times amusing. Cécile Narjoux provides a linguistics approach to the issue in order to arrive at a very ambiguous conclusion: in some instances there are similarities among the writers, but they are similarities of different sorts fostered by the family atmosphere inculcated in the maison by father and daughter. From this perspective all Minuit authors have the right to their own style, but what unites them is their belonging to the“clan Minuit”(30, emphasis in text). Fabien Gris also broadens the understanding of the Minuit style, while moving it outside the confines of the literary text when he proposes that it is un esprit partagé concerning the sorry state of society and literature’s embattled position within it (40). Sylvie Ducas appears to agree: “Le ‘style Minuit’ tient donc moins d’une stylistique ou d’une poétique que d’une mythologie active et d’une communauté spirituelle et professionnelle” (84). The tentative consensus which emerges from the more theoretical essays is that rather than speak of a literary style, it may be truer to consider an“ambiance”surrounding Minuit writers which has much to do with the skillful way the Lindons and Robbe-Grillet 254 FRENCH REVIEW 90.2 Reviews 255 have marketed the publishing house and its products such as the nouveau roman. The mystique surrounding Minuit continues to be most impressive, long after the debates about la littérature objective have faded away. Certainly Minuit favors avant-garde texts, but so does P.O.L, yet the notion of experimental fiction remains firmly associated with the former. Concerning the novels themselves, the one constant is that they all share a white cover with a blue border. Florida University, emeritus William Cloonan Cabral, Maria de Jesus, Maria Herminía A. Laurel, et Frank Schuerewegen, éd. Lire de près, de loin: close vs distant reading. Paris: Garnier, 2014. ISBN 978-28124 -2124-2. Pp. 202. 58 a. Cet ouvrage invite à réfléchir sur le débat entre la lecture de près et la lecture de loin provoqué à la suite des thèses polémiques de Franco Moretti selon lesquelles la lecture de près ne peut révéler ni l’étendue ni la nature de la littérature alors que la lecture de loin, en délaissant l’étude de textes spécifiques, aborde les œuvres littéraires de façon plus exhaustive en englobant des données géographiques, culturelles, évolutives et formalistes, sans préjugés géopolitiques, esthétiques ou autres. Cette nouvelle stratégie de lecture inspirée par...