Les littératures en langue française: histoire, mythe et création éd. par Papa Samba Diop et Alain Vuillemin

exemplary space to identify this mise en scène de soi for here, one may observe the representation of a réseau, an imaginative space of textual sociability (195)—though he correctly admits that much more work is required to detail the subtle tensions of “une poétique de la revue”(260). Nonetheless, Dickow capably situates these authors’ attempts to craft a new lyric subject within the larger framework of French literary history, particularly in relation to Romanticism. He also makes valid connections to cultural events (for instance, the 1905 laïcité law and its impact on Cendrars’s Pâques; World War I’s looming shadow over all literary output during the war years). His ability to free-associate poets into surprising groups shows the depth of his critical acumen, such as when he compares Cendrars’s characteristically minimalist poetic line to those of Guillevic, Ungaretti, Creeley, and Beckett (173). To be in such wideranging company is a pleasure, though at times the essential pursuit becomes obscured through discussions that, while lengthy, do not add much (for instance, a long section on Fantômas could have certainly been condensed). Ultimately, Le poète innombrable succeeds in offering new perspectives on these iconic figures even if its ambitions sometimes mirror the Modernist techniques of patchwork or collage in their reach.As Dickow claims in the final pages, the sense of contagious multiplicity, of self-important self, of communal literary spaces that could truly change one’s sense of daily life— this is the legacy that Cendrars, Apollinaire, and Jacob leave to contemporary poetry, if we care enough to look. Southern Connecticut State University Nichole Gleisner Diop, Papa Samba, et Alain Vuillemin, éd. Les littératures en langue française: histoire, mythe et création. Rennes: PU de Rennes, 2015. ISBN 978-2-7535-4188-7. Pp. 828. This vibrant collection of seventy papers explores the intersection of history, memory, and myth by extrapolating from the theories of Barthes, de Certeau, Ricœur, Nora, and others, to literature written in French on five continents. Mirroring the diverse geographic origins of literary production under investigation, contributors hail from twenty-nine countries. The introductory notes outline the history of French colonization and the subsequent spread of the French language to contextualize the inaugural keynote address and eight chapters. Chapters 1 and 2 focus on the connection between poetry, writing, and history by putting forth arguments that echo the Manifeste des 44 and largely increase the visibility of Romanian writers. Chapter 3 features Belgian, Polish, Romanian, Cambodian, and Haitian texts that grapple with the notion of dictatorship as a historical moment in African and European countries. The remaining sections are divided by the geographic origins of authors writing either from their native land or an adoptive country such as France, Canada, or the United States. Chapter 4 covers the Caribbean, the Indian Ocean, and Asia, while chapters 5– 8 move from Europe to the Mediterranean, Africa, and Quebec. The large scope of 218 FRENCH REVIEW 91.2 Reviews 219 articles proves that analyzing the complex diversity of literature written in French is an ambitious and challenging endeavor. Although this book is not an exhaustive resource, readers will certainly appreciate the variety of narrative genres, along with a blend of key figures (Dib, Glissant, Kourouma, Lê, Maillet, NDiaye), marginalized writers (Soth Polin, Anna de Noailles), and neglected regions of the French-speaking world (Comorian, Serbian, Bulgarian literary productions). Overall, the articles highlight a broad spectrum of historic events, eras, sites, and people that were absorbed in the imaginary of migrant authors, communities, or nations. It is rewarding to discover the various levels of meaning the concepts of history and myth can produce in the French-speaking world. However, these findings could have been summarized in chapter introductions or codas as they can lead to thought-provoking ideas for regional or cross-regional comparisons. The most noteworthy contributions explore innovative approaches (intermediality in African literature; the paradigms of Goethe’s world literature for Algeria), or comparative readings (Kossi Efoui and Dany Laferrière; Annie Ernaux and Ken Bugul). Another strength is the attempt at periodization for Algerian, Cameroonian, or Comorian literature. However, despite the rich collection...

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