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The nouveau roman (French pronunciation: [nuvo ʁɔmɑ̃], new novel) is a type of 1950s French novel that diverged from classical literary genres. Émile Henriot coined the title in an article in the popular French newspaper Le Monde on May 22, 1957^{[citation needed]} to describe certain writers who experimented with style in each novel, creating an essentially new style each time.

Alain Robbe-Grillet, an influential theorist as well as writer of the nouveau roman, published a series of essays on the nature and future of the novel which were later collected in Pour un nouveau roman. Rejecting many of the established features of the novel to date, Robbe-Grillet regarded many earlier novelists as old-fashioned in their focus on plot, action, narrative, ideas, and character. Instead, he put forward a theory of the novel as focused on objects: the ideal nouveau roman would be an individual version and vision of things, subordinating plot and character to the details of the world rather than enlisting the world in their service.^{[citation needed]}

Despite the assertions of nouveauté, this vision of the novel can be construed as developing from earlier writers' suggestions and practice. Joris-Karl Huysmans, ninety years before, had suggested how the novel might be depersonalised;^{[citation needed]} more recently, Franz Kafka had shown that conventional methods of depicting character were not essential; James Joyce had done the same for plot; and absurdist writers had engaged with some of the themes which preoccupied writers of the nouveau roman.

The nouveau roman style also left its mark on screen as writers Marguerite Duras and Alain Robbe-Grillet became involved with the Left Bank film movement (often labelled as part of the French new wave). Their collaboration with director Alain Resnais resulted in critical successes such as Hiroshima, Mon Amour (1958) and Last Year in Marienbad (1961). They would later go on to direct their own films.^[1]

[edit] Authors in the style of the nouveau roman

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See also[link]

French literature portal

• French literature
• Francophone literature
• List of French language authors
• Antinovel

References[link]

1. ^ Clouzot, Claire, Le cinéma français depuis la nouvelle vague, Fernand Nathan/Alliance Française, 1972

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Calixthe Beyala (born 1961) is a Cameroonian-born French writer who writes in French.

She grew up in Douala with her sister. In 1978, she left Cameroon for France. She married, and has two children.^[1]

Awards[link]

• 1996 Grand Prix du Roman de l'Académie Française
• 1993 Grand prix littéraire de l’Afrique noire
• 1994 Prix François Mauriac de l’Académie française
• 1994 the Prix tropique^[2]

Controversies[link]

On March 31, 2011, Beyala was one of the few intellectuals to express support for Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi^[3].

Works[link]

• C'est le soleil qui m'a brûlée 1987 Oxford: Heinemann; Librio, 1997, ISBN 978-2-277-30165-3
• Tu t'appelleras Tanga, Stock, 1988, ISBN 978-2-234-02142-6
• Seul le Diable le savait, Pré aux Clercs, 1990, ISBN 978-2-7144-2476-1
• La négresse rousse (1991); Éd. J'ai lu, 1997, ISBN 978-2-290-04601-2
• Le petit prince de Bellevile, A. Michel, 1992, ISBN 978-2-226-05934-5
• Maman a un amant, Editions J'ai lu, 1993, ISBN 9782290313770—Grand Prize of Literature of Black Africa
• Asséze l'Africaine, A. Michel, 1994, ISBN 9782226069986 -- François Mauriac Prize of the Académie française
• Lettre d'une africaine à ses sœurs occidentales, Spengler, 1995
• Les Honneurs perdus, A. Michel, 1996, ISBN 978-2-226-08693-8 -- Grand Prix du roman de l'Académie française
• La petite fille du réverbère, Albin Michel, 1998, ISBN 9782226095916—Grand Prize of Unicef
• Amours sauvages Albin Michel, 1999, ISBN 978-2-226-10818-0; J'ai lu, 2000, ISBN 978-2-290-30902-5
• Lettre d'une Afro-française à ses compatriotes, Mango, 2000, ISBN 978-2-84270-232-8
• Comment cuisiner son mari à l'africaine, Albin Michel, 2000, ISBN 978-2-226-11676-5
• Les arbres en parlent encore…, Librairie générale française, 2004, ISBN 978-2-253-06776-4
• Femme nue, femme noire, Albin Michel, 2003, ISBN 978-2-226-13790-6
• La plantation, Albin Michel, 2005, ISBN 978-2-226-15835-2
• L'homme qui m'offrait le ciel: roman, Albin Michel, 2007, ISBN 978-2-226-17715-5

English Translations[link]

• Loukoum: the 'little prince' of Belleville, Translator Marjolijn De Jager, Heinemann, 1995, ISBN 978-0-435-90968-0
• The sun hath looked upon me, Translator Marjolijn De Jager, Heinemann, 1996, ISBN 978-0-435-90951-2
• Your name shall be Tanga, Translator Marjolijn De Jager, Heinemann, 1996, ISBN 978-0-435-90950-5

References[link]

External links[link]

• "Calixthe Beyala", The Literary Encyclopedia
• Article, "Neither Here nor There: Calixthe Beyala's Collapsing Homes" by Ayo Abiétou Coly, from Research in African Literatures (33: 2)
• "Calixthe Beyala : writing in the margins", Africultures, Boniface Mongo-Mboussa
• "Calixthe Beyala, or the Literary Success of a Cameroonian Woman Living in Paris", Jean-Marie Volet, World Literature Today, Vol. 67, No. 2 (Spring, 1993), pp. 309–314
• Charles Salé, Calixthe Beyala: analyse sémiotique de Tu t'appelleras Tanga, Harmattan, 2005, ISBN 978-2-7475-9716-6

Further reading[link]

• Hitchcott, Nicki, Calixthe Beyala: Performances of Migration, Liverpool University Press, December 2006, ISBN 978-1-84631-028-7

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Virginie Despentes
Despentes in March 2012
Born	(1969-06-13) June 13, 1969 (age 43) Nancy
Occupation	Novelist, filmmaker

Virginie Despentes (born June 13, 1969, Nancy, Meurthe-et-Moselle) is a French writer, novelist and filmmaker.

Life[link]

She settled in Lyon,^[1] where she worked multiple odd jobs; including maid, prostitute in "massage parlors" and peep shows, recorded store sales, and a freelance rock journalist and pornographic film critic.^[2]

She moved to Paris. Her novel Les Jolies choses, was adapted for the screen in 2001, by Gilles Paquet-Brenner, with Marion Cotillard and Stomy Bugsy in the lead roles. The film was awarded the Michel d'Ornano prize, at the 2001 Deauville Festival.

In 2000, she directed her first film adapted from one of her novels, Baise-moi, working with Coralie Trinh Thi, Karen Lancaume and Raffaëla Anderson as the protagonists. Her controversial novel is a contemporary example of the exploitation films genre known as rape and revenge films.^[3]

She translated the 2003 Placebo song "Protect Me From What I Want" into French. This was released as the single "Protège-Moi".^[4]

From 2004 to 2005, she tried a form of writing at the intersection of diaries and journalism, a blog post on which she documents her daily mood.

In 2005, she wrote three songs for the album Va chercher la police for the group A.S. Dragon. In 2006, she published a non-fiction work, King Kong Theory, which has also been translated into English and German, and recounts her experiences working within the French sex industry, and attendant infamy and praise associated with the aforementioned Baise-Moi.

In 2009 she directed her first documentary, 'Mutantes (Feminist Porn Punk), which was broadcast on TV Pink.

In 2010, her novel Apocalypse bébé, was awarded the Renaudot prize. Bye Bye Blondie was adapted for film with Béatrice Dalle and Emmanuelle Béart.^[5] Cecilia Backes and Salima Boutebal produced a stage adaptation of King Kong Theory, during the "Outside" Festival d'Avignon.^[6]

In 2011, her commentary on Dominique Strauss-Kahn appeared in The Guardian.^[7]

Awards[link]

Despentes won the 1998 Prix de Flore, and 1999 Prix Saint-Valentin for Les Jolies Choses; 2010 Prix Renaudot for Apocalypse Bébé.

Bibliography[link]

Novels[link]

• Baise-moi. 1993; Grasset, 1999, ISBN 978-2-246-58711-8
  • Baise-Moi (Rape Me). Translator Bruce Benderson. Grove Press. 2002. ISBN 978-0-8021-3870-5. http://books.google.com/books?id=E44u8Vj92UYC&printsec=frontcover&dq=virginie+despentes&hl=en&ei=ShECTvHlGKjj0QHnkpGbDg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CC8Q6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q&f=false. 
• Les Chiennes savantes. Éditions J'ai lu, 1997
• Les Jolies choses. J'ai lu, 2008, ISBN 978-2-290-35012-6
• 1999 - Mordre au travers.
• Teen spirit. 2002, J'ai lu, 2004, ISBN 978-2-290-32987-0
• 2002 - Trois étoiles.
• Bye bye Blondie: roman, Grasset, 2004, ISBN 978-2-246-64891-8
• King Kong théorie, Grasset, 2006
  • King Kong Theorie, Berlin Verlag, 2007, ISBN 978-3-8270-0755-1
  • King Kong Theory. London: Serpents Tail. 2009. ISBN 978-1-84668-642-9. http://books.google.com/books?id=8IVHFjev-mkC&printsec=frontcover&dq=virginie+despentes&hl=en&ei=ShECTvHlGKjj0QHnkpGbDg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCoQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false. ; Translator Stéphanie Benson, Feminist Press, 2010, ISBN 978-1-55861-657-8
• 2010 - Apocalypse Bébé.

Stories[link]

• 1997 : « C'est dehors, c'est la nuit », recueil collectif Dix, Grasset / Les Inrockuptibles.
• 1999 : Mordre au travers, recueil de nouvelles, Librio.
• 2004 : « Toujours aussi pute », Revue Bordel, n°2, Flammarion.
• 2004 : « Putain, je déteste le foot... », biography of Lemmy Kilmister of the group Motörhead, Rock & Folk, n°444.
• 2004 : une nouvelle dans le recueil Des nouvelles du Prix de Flore, Flammarion.
• 2009 : « I put a spell on you », Psychologies magazine, Hors série « Les Secrets de l'érotisme ».

References[link]

External links[link]

• Serpent's Tail author page
• Virginie Despentes at the Internet Movie Database
• 2009 interview (English)
• Review of King Kong Theory (English)
• "Virginie Despentes décape à vif" L'Express, Marianne Payot, 19 August 2010 (French)

Fatou Diome
Born	1968 Niodior, Senegal
Occupation	Novelist, short story writer
Nationality	Senegalese
Period	2001-present
Genres	Literary fiction

Fatou Diome (born 1968 in Niodior) is a Senegalese writer, known for her bestselling novel The Belly of the Atlantic published in 2001. Her work explores immigrant life in France, and the relationship between France and Africa. Fatou Diome currently lives in Strasbourg, France.

Biography[link]

Fatou Diome was born in Niodior on the island of the same name in the Sine-Saloum Delta. She was raised by her grandmother and went to school where she learned French and became passionate about French literature. At the age of 13 she left Niodior and continued her education in M'Bour. Later she moved to Dakar to study at the university, supporting herself by working as a housekeeper.

In 1990 she married a Frenchman and moved to France. Rejected by her traditional Serer family and by his family, she divorced two years later. In 1994 Diome moved to Strasbourg to study at the University of Strasbourg. She currently works on her Ph.D. in French language and literature. The title of her Ph.D. thesis is Le Voyage, les échanges et la formation dans l'œuvre littéraire et cinématographique de Ousmane Sembène.

Works[link]

Fatou Diome published a collection of short stories, La Préférence nationale in 2001. Her first novel, The Belly of the Atlantic (French: Le Ventre de l'Atlantique) became a bestseller in France and is published in English by Serpent's Tail. Her first novel was partly autobiographical and is about Salie, a Senegalese immigrant living in Paris, and her younger brother Madicke, who stayed behind in Senegal. After years of struggle Salie has finally arrived and settled in France. Her younger brother dreams of following her to France and to become a successful football player. The Belly of the Atlantic was translated into English, German and Spanish. Her second novel Kétala was published in 2006 in France. In her work Fatou Diome explores France and Africa, and the relationship between the two countries.

Her style is influenced by the traditional oral literature of Africa. Her language is authentic and vivid and traces a portrait of the difficulties of integrating in France as an immigrant, mixed with nostalgia and memories of a childhood in Senegal.

Bibliography[link]

• Kétala. Flammarion, March 10, 2006. ISBN 978-2-08-068993-1
• Le Ventre de l'Atlantique. Anne Carrière, August 20, 2003. ISBN 978-2-84337-238-4
• The Belly of the Atlantic. Serpent's Tail, September 4, 2006. ISBN 978-1-85242-903-4
• La Préférence nationale. Présence africaine, March 16, 2001. ISBN 978-2-7087-0722-1

External links[link]

• Review of Le Ventre de l’Atlantique
• Article in Time
• picture of Diome of Xavier Thomas
• http://aflit.arts.uwa.edu.au/DiomeFatouEng.html
• Jean-Marie Volet: NOT TO BE MISSED, "Le ventre de l'Atlantique", a novel by Fatou DIOME, September 2009, The University of Western Australia/School of Humanities

fr[link]

Interviews

• Interview with Tatou Diome at Grioo
• Interview with Diome by Cikuru Batumike veröffentlicht bei Amina
• Interview with Diome by Wanda Nicot about Ketala at Amina

Reviews

• Review od Fatous book Le ventre de l’Atlantique by Bi Kacou Parfait Diandue: LE VENTRE DE L’ATLANTIQUE, METAPHORE AQUATIQUE D’UN MIRAGE : IDEAL BRISE DE L’AILLEURS? in http://ethiopiques.refer.sn/
• Cheick SAKHO: CITOYENNETE UNIVERSELLE : LA QUETE OBSEDANTE D’UNE IDENTITE DANS LE VENTRE DE L’ATLANTIQUE

Marc Levy
Marc Levy at the Salon du Livre 2011 in Geneva
Born	(1961-10-16) 16 October 1961 (age 50) Boulogne-Billancourt, France
Occupation	Novelist
Genres	Novel
Notable work(s)	If Only It Were True, Vous revoir,The First Day
www.marclevy.info

Marc Levy (born 16 October 1961) is a French novelist.

Levy was born in Boulogne-Billancourt, Hauts-de-Seine. At the age of 18, he joined the French Red Cross where he spent six years. In parallel, he studied management and computers at Paris-Dauphine University.

In 1983, he created a company specializing in computer graphics in France and the United States. In 1989, he lost majority control of the group and resigned, starting again from scratch. He then co-founded an interior design and construction company with two friends; the company would become one of the first office architecture firms in France.

Career[link]

When he was thirty-seven, Marc Levy wrote a story for the man that his son would grow up to be. His sister, a screenwriter, encouraged him to send the manuscript to Editions Robert Laffont, who immediately decided to publish If Only it Were True. In 1999, after selling the film rights to Steven Spielberg for Dreamworks, he left his architectural firm to dedicate himself to writing. In 2001, he published his second book, Où es-tu? (Will You Be There ), followed by Sept jours pour une éternité... (Seven Days for an Eternity) in 2003, La prochaine fois (In Another Life) in 2004 and Vous revoir (Finding You) in 2005. The year 2005 also saw the release of Just Like Heaven, the adaptation by Dreamworks of Et si c'était vrai..., starring Reese Witherspoon and Mark Ruffalo. Où es-tu? has been adapted in a mini series for television, and his novel Mes Amis mes Amours (London, Mon Amour) was adapted into a feature film, released in France on 2 July 2008; Children of Freedom was published in France in 2007, All those things we never said in 2008.

The First Day, his ninth novel, was published in France on 25 June 2009. The First Night, the sequel to The First Day, on 2 December 2009. The Shadow Thief, was published in France on June 17, 2010.

His most recent novel, The Strange Journey of Mr Daldry was published in France on April 21, 2011.

The combined worldwide sales of his ten novels, translated in 42 languages, have achieved the 23 million copy mark. Marc Levy is the most-read French author in the world. (Source for all rankings and figures: Ipsos / Livres Hebdo/Le Figaro)

Bibliography[link]

• If Only It Were True (Originally: Et si c'était vrai...) (1999)
• Will you be There (Originally: Où es-tu ?) (2001)
• Seven Days for an Eternity (Originally: Sept jours pour une éternité...) (2003)
• In Another Life (Originally: La prochaine fois) (2004)
• Finding You (Originally: Vous revoir) (2005)
• London Mon Amour (Originally: Mes amis, mes amours) (2006)
• Children of Freedom (Originally: Les enfants de la liberté) (2007)
• All Those Things We Never Said (Originally: Toutes ces choses qu'on ne s'est pas dites) (2008)
• The First Day (Originally: Le premier jour) (2009)
• The First Night (Originally: La première nuit) (2009)
• The Shadow Thief (Originally: Le voleur d'ombres) (2010)
• The Strange Journey of Mr Daldry (Originally: L’étrange voyage de Monsieur Daldry) (2011)

Short Film[link]

• La Lettre de Nabila directed for Amnesty International, adapted from a short story he co-wrote with Sophie Fontanel.

External links[link]

• Site officiel
• Les enfants de la liberté
• Toutes ces choses qu'on ne s'est pas dites
• Le Premier jour
• La premiere nuit
• Le voleur d'ombres