Littérature
Is the traditional Franco-Belgian comic format coming to an end?
When Art Spiegelman’s Maus received the Pulitzer Prize in 1992, the work was presented as a ‘graphic novel’. The term is once again imposed in traditional media when Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi meets with major critical and institutional success. These works are rarely described as comic strips (“Bandes Dessinées” in French, often abbreviated as BD), Read more
L’Etranger (The Stranger) from Camus to Ozon: how can this canonic literary masterpiece be adapted in movie?
When cinema takes on such a mystical and complex work I returned to the novel The Stranger a few weeks before going to see the adaptation. As I closed the book, I was struck by the raw simplicity and silent depth of Camus’ writing: the absurdity, the absence of certainties, the feeling of being on Read more
When « true love » becomes a cultural slogan: Revisiting the classic love film « Love Actually » 20 years later.
Every winter during the Christmas season, the film « Love Actually » makes a limited return, holding high the most touching lines about true love and presenting dramatic yet perhaps real love stories. It is labeled as « heartwarming », « healing », and « about love », becoming a nearly default cultural symbol of Christmas. However, when a film repeatedly praised as Read more
Why I Still Love Jane Eyre, but Not Its Ending.
Jane Eyre used to be my favorite book. Back then, I loved it deeply and was completely moved by the love story at its center. I even secretly imagined myself as Jane — learning to be strong, to be brave, to overcome hardships, and then meeting a Rochester who would somehow save my life. Everything Read more
Book Covers: The end of a French cultural exception?
On Tuesday, November 4, after a month of deliberations, the Goncourt Prize is finally announced. Almost immediately, bookshop windows fill with the same volume: a white cover, framed by a thin blue border, bearing only a few words: La Maison vide, Laurent Mauvignier. Yet, for some years now, something new has been added. A half-jacket in Read more
Wandering Souls (2023) by Cécile Pin or the memory of Vietnam War refugees
Originally published in English (2023) by Fourth Estate and then published in French as Les âmes errantes (2024, Stock), this book is a touching testimony of the experience of boat people after the Vietnam War. The author has won the Fragonard Prize for Foreign Literature 2024 and was shortlisted for the Women’s Prize in 2023. Read more
Le gardien de Téhéran, Stéphanie Perez – Sophie Juffet
1979, Téhéran. La révolution ébranle le pays et sa population. Cyrus Farzadi, 25 ans, travaille au Musée d’Art contemporain de la ville. Musée développé et construit par le cousin de l’impératrice, Kamran Diba. Ce lieu marqueur d’un régime passé, d’une vie luxueuse, d’une ouverture occidentale est menacé suite à la prise de pouvoir des mollahs Read more
Entre les Deux : Le Parcours Inspirant de Panayotis Pascot
Panayotis Pascot, figure maintenant reconnue de l’humour français, est actuellement en tourné dans toute la France pour présenter son nouveau spectacle Entre les deux. Des débuts précoces à la télévision Dès l’âge de treize ans, Panayotis Pascot décide de s’impliquer dans le journalisme en interviewant des célébrités et des personnalités à la sortie de leurs Read more
Roberto Bolaño, a Life on the Edge
Roberto Bolaño is widely recognized as one of the most influential writers in contemporary literature. Born in Chile in 1953, his life and work have left a lasting mark on both Latin American and global literature. Despite his early death in 2003, Bolaño’s prolific output as both a novelist and poet has achieved remarkable international Read more
What if Gaël Faye gave Jacaranda an even stronger voice by winning the Goncourt Prize?
Gaël Faye: a voice for a (hi)story that demands to be told Gaël Faye is a Franco-Rwandan singer-songwriter, rapper and writer, born in 1982 in Bujumbura, the capital of Burundi, a small country in the south of Rwanda between DRC and Tanzania. His father is French, and his mother, originally from Rwanda, took refuge in Read more