Conversation |
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Julian Barnes
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The full transcript of the interview, together with
an introduction and a bibliography on Flaubert’s Parrot, was
published in English by Études
britanniques contemporaines: Gallix François and Vanessa Guignery.
“Julian Barnes at the Sorbonne. 14th November 2001.” Études britanniques contemporaines
21 (Dec. 2001) : 107-32.
Flaubert’s Parrot formed part of the syllabus for the agrégation competitive examination in France in 2001/2002, an examination for students who want to become teachers in secondary schools or university. In previous years, The Buddha of Suburbia by Hanif Kureishi, A Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood and The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro were part of the syllabus and the Sorbonne research centre “Écritures du roman contemporain de langue anglaise”, headed by François Gallix and Vanessa Guignery, invited Hanif Kureishi (1997), Margaret Atwood (1998) and Kazuo Ishiguro (1999) to talk about their books. The debates proved extremely lively and stimulating. This year, Julian Barnes generously offered some of his very precious time by kindly accepting to come to the Sorbonne and talk about Flaubert’s Parrot, despite his general reluctance to take part in academic meetings. The debate took place on November 14th 2001 at the Guizot amphitheatre at the Sorbonne University in front of about 250 people and it lasted about 90 minutes. It consisted of an interview with Julian Barnes, led by François Gallix, professor of English contemporary literature at the Sorbonne, and Vanessa Guignery, senior lecturer at the Sorbonne and author of a thesis, two books and several articles on the work of Julian Barnes. To answer François Gallix’s first question on the genesis
of Flaubert’s Parrot, Julian Barnes explained that in 1981
he had been commissioned by a publisher to write a guide – that he
finally never wrote – to the houses of French writers and artists.
This led him to visit many houses, but also the two museums devoted
to Gustave Flaubert in Rouen and Croisset. Julian Barnes had brought
to the Sorbonne the travel notebook that he had kept on that journey
and read passages related to the question of the parrots, which proved
extremely close to some passages of the first chapter of Flaubert’s
Parrot. Julian Barnes then answered a question on biography and
gave several reasons for his suspicion of biography as a genre. He
pointed to the fact that a biography is usually boring until the subject
has grown up, argued that a biography is often reductive and tends
to minimise the work itself, and suggested that it is a mistake to
judge the subject of a biography from a contemporary point of view.
Asked about the amount of control over his characters, Julian Barnes
said that he sat in the middle of two extremes, i.e. between writers
who strictly control their characters and writers who suggest that
the characters are completely free. As Vanessa Guignery suggested
that Flaubert’s Parrot might be considered as an original form
of detective fiction, Julian Barnes concurred that there were mysteries
in the book (about the parrots, about the narrator’s life), but argued
that the book was not characterised by a thrilling narrative drive
and was more based on diversion. Attention was then drawn to similarities
between Flaubert’s Parrot and The Good Soldier by Ford
Madox Ford, which led Julian Barnes to explain why he deeply admired
this book which is still undervalued. He explained the difference
between John Dowell, the narrator of The Good Soldier, who
defers telling his own story because he doesn’t understand it, and
Geoffrey Braithwaite who defers telling his private story because
of emotional blockage. Julian Barnes then said a few words on Something
to Declare, the volume of essays to be published in January 2002,
and In The Land of Pain, his translation into English of La
Doulou by Alphonse Daudet which will be published in March 2002. A member of the audience then raised the question of
the influence of Gustave Flaubert on the style of Flaubert’s Parrot;
Julian Barnes answered that he agreed with some of Flaubert’s positions
but refused to acknowledge a word-to-word level influence. Asked whether
he was a postmodernist writer, Julian Barnes was typically ironic
and sarcastic, suggesting that the concept was no longer up-to-date
and that he didn’t want to be imprisoned in such a box. He remarked
that Flaubert’s Parrot and A History of the World in 10
½ Chapters certainly bent form but added that he also wrote more
conventional novels. Matthew Pateman, senior lecturer at the university
of Scarborough, author of a thesis and several articles on Julian
Barnes’ work, asked whether Geoffrey Braithwaite was a Larkinesque
character, which led Julian Barnes to claim his admiration for Philip
Larkin, pointing to both his gloominess and his humour, and to define
Braithwaite as a very British character. The debate ended with Julian
Barnes saying that he hoped people read his books in ideal circumstances
but arguing that he had no ideal reader in mind when writing. Orders for the issue of
Etudes britanniques contemporaines can be sent to Service des
Publications, Montpellier III, Route de Mende, 34199 Montpellier Cedex
5, France. (email : publications@univ-montp.3.fr).
The issue costs 10€
(approximately $10). |
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