Lexington Books Fictions of Childhood: The Roots of Identity in Contemporary French Narratives (After the Empire: The Francophone World & Postcolonial France)

Product Description Fictions of Childhood explores the complexity of French identity in writings that focus on the experience of children. Nina Bouraoui, Linda Lê, and Gisèle Pineau-French writers of Algerian, Vietnamese, and Guadelupean origin, respectively-are discussed within the text because of their use of educational and familial contexts to explore the meanings of childhood in fiction. In their role as literary double agents who view French identity against the grain, these three writers perceive French identity from multiple angles. The selected texts counter preconceived notions about children and childhood in their portrayal of child narrator-protagonist-mostly girl children-who make prophetic revelations. They are marginalized schoolchildren who denounce French society and institutions for failing them, children who cross the boundaries of gender and sexuality, and children of the French empire who tell French colonial and post-colonial history from their unique perspectives. The current crisis in French universalism is mirrored in the literary portrayal of child figures as victors and victims because these representations make visible the relational dynamic between France and her former colonies, which underlie the silenced history of colonialism and post-colonialism that continues to define French identity. Review Fictions of Childhood does nevertheless make its modest contribution to the question of identity in contemporary France, particularly in the many questions it raises and in bringing together such a provocative group of writers.--H-France Review, March 2009 This book has been researched and written by a refined scholar who challenges French colonial legacies using thorough explorations of the connections between French colonialism, universalism, and difference. She places the study of literary France at the center of the contemporary francophone postcolonial debates. The focus on 'fictions of childhood' in the works of these women writers elucidates current concepts pertaining to studies in cultural identity, métissage, memory, and more. This is a lucid, groundbreaking analysis that will undoubtedly appeal to a large international readership.--Kamal Salhi, senior lecturer of French studies, University of Leeds As France undergoes political and cultural changes, Marjorie Attignol Salvodon provides us with a perceptive study of French identity, specifically as it relates to the notion of difference in contemporary France. Her work astutely examines current discussions of multiculturalism, highlighting works of fiction whose narrative voices are children. Salvodon's unique and thoroughly researched approach considers both the history of colonialism and debates on French universalism, showing us why these fictional texts play an important role in our understanding of France--Pamela Pears, associate professor of French, Washington College About the Author Marjorie Attignol Salvodon is assistant professor of humanities and modern languages at Suffolk University.