(N)ostalgie? Communism and French literature since 1989

In recent years, the burgeoning field of research on ‘post-communist nostalgia’ has concentrated mainly on the former Eastern Bloc, with Ostalgie for the GDR of particular interest. Study of the memory of communism in western countries such as France has been marginal. However, communism has left a considerable trace on French culture and politics. This article examines the memory of communism in French literature published since 1989. The novels of Bernard Chambaz, Aurélie Filippetti and Michel Houellebecq express affection and even longing for the lost world of communism, while reflecting lucidly on the failure of ‘really existing socialism’ and marking a break with previous generations. To varying degrees, these writers evoke the crisis of a France decentred and disoriented by social liberalisation, globalisation and migratory flows. Beyond any reflective nostalgia for communism, there appears, between the lines, a nostalgia for a certain France.PostprintPeer reviewe

André Marty and Ernest Hemingway

On its publication in October 1940, Ernest Hemingway’s For Whom the Bell Tolls was widely acclaimed but caused anger and dismay among supporters of the defeated Spanish Republic, starting with veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade. For them, the most egregious passage in the novel was Hemingway’s portrayal of André Marty, chief political commissar of the International Brigades, as a bloodthirsty ‘crazy’: ‘está loco’, say all those who encounter him. This article places the reception of the novel and the reputation of Marty in the context of the tortuous history of the communist movement. Drawing on the press, memoirs, historiography and Marty’s own private papers, we see how the contrasting fortunes of the novelist and the communist leader illustrate a ‘craziness’ which For Whom the Bell Tolls both captures and anticipates.PostprintPeer reviewe

Patrick Leigh Fermor, Paul Morand and Rumania

The ‘Great Trudge’ of 1933-1934 allowed Patrick Leigh Fermor to discover Rumania, which would later be evoked in Between the Woods and the Water (1986) and The Broken Road (2013). It was in Bucharest that the young Englishman made the life-changing discovery of a Francophile and aristocratic milieu which was also frequented by an established writer and diplomat, Paul Morand (1888-1976), himself married to a former Rumanian princess. Despite such an overlap of life and work, these major figures of travel writing have, until now, escaped comparison. Drawing upon published sources, but also the authors’ private papers, we will therefore explore these visitors’ representations of Rumania and the evolution of their long and passionate relationship with that country. Striking similarities apart, the biggest difference between these two travellers is, we argue, the time and purpose of their writing.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

A brief Franco-Romanian encounter : Guillevic and Nina Cassian in translation

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Franco-Romanian cinema in late communism : Sergiu Nicolaescu's François Villon - Poetul vagabond (1987)

In the late 1980s, against the backdrop of worsening Franco-Romanian relations and internal crisis, Sergiu Nicolaescu, who had established an international reputation for epic films about Romanian history, agreed to make François Villon – Poetul vagabond in co-production with TF1 and Cine Berlin, firstly as a television series broadcast in 1987, then as a feature film, released in Romanian cinemas in 1989, the final year of the Ceaușescu regime. This article studies Nicolaescu’s film, its production and its reception, drawing on archival documents, the Romanian press of the time, and Nicolaescu’s memoirs. To what extent was Villon’s story used to criticise the regime? And how far does this co-production mark a watershed in both Nicolaescu’s career and in Franco-Romanian film collaboration?PostprintPeer reviewe

Jean-Joseph Rabearivelo, Charles Maurras and colonial Madagascar

Jean-Joseph Rabearivelo (1903–1937) is widely considered to be the first major writer of la francophonie and as Madagascar’s national poet. His untimely death has been interpreted as an act of rebellion against French colonial rule. However, little attention has been given to his outspoken attachment to the ideas of Charles Maurras and the far right Action Française. This article explores Rabearivelo’s politics, his ambivalent relationship with colonial rule and the complexity of the identity politics expressed in his work.PostprintPeer reviewe

Guillevic's 'Elégie' of 1958

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The French Communist Party and Britain in the Second World War

Transnational studies of the French Communist Party (PCF) have understandably emphasized relations with the Soviet and Italian Parties. However, study of the PCF's relations with its minnow-like counterpart in Britain sheds light on its tortuous trajectory during the Second World War. The French and British communist press of the period, as well as recently released archival documents, show radical shifts in line and fortune, ultimately determined by decisions taken in Moscow. The defeat of Nazism sees the apogee of communist influence on both sides of the Channel, but signs of isolation and inexorable decline soon emerge.PostprintPeer reviewe