Authors and the Meta-Literary: The Politics of Publication in Contemporary Francophone Literature
Datum
2024-01-09
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University of Oregon
Zusammenfassung
Literature written in the French language has often been divided into a hierarchical dichotomy valuing French literature (written by metropolitan French authors) over Francophone literature (other writers writing in French). Under the influence of postcolonial studies and of the works of Francophone writers themselves, this hierarchical dichotomy has gradually been deconstructed. Traces of the French colonial history that triggered this dichotomy linger, however. The codes, constraints and conventions of the French literary system influence and weigh upon global Francophone works published in this system. My dissertation focuses on how the history of French colonialism still manifests in contemporary Francophone texts from the Caribbean, North and sub-Saharan Africa, and how Francophone authors resist the ensuing conventions. This dissertation thus considers contemporary works by transnational authors published in metropolitan France by major publishing houses such as Gallimard, Grasset or Le Seuil. Their texts engage and resist the national structures embedded in the way they are published, framed, distributed, and read. I identify three strategies that Francophone writers deploy to challenge the persisting colonial structures of the French literary system: they showcase contemporary colonial power dynamics in the stories they write, they challenge the genre of the novel that is intrinsically tied to the nation state; and they metamorphose the so-called standard French language, simultaneously also challenging the monolingual status quo tied to nationalism.
Ultimately, this dissertation strives to add to the literary and academic conversation in the field of Francophone literature, to consider both the conceptualization work authors do, and the haling and political influence of French publication houses.
Beschreibung
Schlagwörter
Contemporary Francophone Literature, Contemporary novel, Littérature-monde, Publication, Translingualism, World Literature