Maud Frère, interpreter of History: Les Jumeaux millénaires and conflict 1940-1945

Abstract

This article concerns the portrayal of the World War II in the Belgian literature on the basis of Les Jumeaux millénaires Maud Frère (1923-1979). Published in 1962, the novel is considered as one of few testimonies of German Occupation in Belgium, its influence on the post-war Belgian-Belgian conflicts (Quastion royale, 1940-1945) and the literary output (déshistoire). This autobiographic narration, full of bitterness and disappointment, portrays a literary and very subjective interpretation of this shameful, unsaid and often neglected period in the Belgian history.This article concerns the portrayal of the World War II in the Belgian literature on the basis of Les Jumeaux millénaires Maud Frère (1923-1979). Published in 1962, the novel is considered as one of few testimonies of German Occupation in Belgium, its influence on the post-war Belgian-Belgian conflicts (Quastion royale, 1940-1945) and the literary output (déshistoire). This autobiographic narration, full of bitterness and disappointment, portrays a literary and very subjective interpretation of this shameful, unsaid and often neglected period in the Belgian history