L'Amérique au tournant: la place des ÉtatsUnis dans la littérature française (1890–1920) éd. by Fabien Dubosson, et Philippe Geinoz

Abstract

Reviewed by: L'Amérique au tournant: la place des ÉtatsUnis dans la littérature française (1890–1920) éd. by Fabien Dubosson, et Philippe Geinoz William Cloonan Dubosson, Fabien, et Philippe Geinoz, éd. L'Amérique au tournant: la place des ÉtatsUnis dans la littérature française (1890–1920). Garnier, 2020. ISBN 978-2-406-10154-3. Pp. 281. This volume consists of the Actes of a conference held at the University of Fribourg in 2017. The editors explain that the 1890–1920 period was chosen because, unlike the earlier and subsequent eras, this time frame has received relatively little scholarly attention. Almost from the inception of their relationship, the French have viewed Americans with a mixture of awe at their nation's initiative and vitality, and a condescension bordering on fear due to the perceived immaturity of the Yankees and their seemingly insatiable social and political ambitions. The fourteen essays in this excellent collection offer original and insightful variations on this general theme. In "Le 'vrai décor du siècle américain'" Julien Schuh offers a convincing study of Symbolist poets' interest in American literature and, more surprisingly, in the culture de masse, industrielle et américanisée (47) of which l'affiche is the most striking example (48). Schuh concludes that the Symbolists had a certain nostalgia for a largely imagined Amérique sauvage, coupled with a fascination for le sublime industriel (48). Nicolas di Méo's "Le cosmopolitisme américain" is a study of Paul Bourget's Outre-mer. Di Méo deftly examines a common trope among French intellectuals when discussing l'Amérique. If Bourget is complimentary throughout his book, there remains a whiff of scorn. France may be old and tired, while Americans exude an unfailing energy, yet the French have for centuries produced enduring cultural and artistic monuments. The Americans merely fabricate the glitzy and the ephemeral. Charles Plet's "La 'jeune fille' américaine," and Sophie Pelletier's "L'apparition du flirt" provide different but complementary perspectives on the femme nouvelle (109). Plet's essay focuses on works by Charles de Vatigny, Paul Bourget, and Marie Dugard. All three speak highly of this new American woman who nevertheless threatens traditional French values. She is the opposite of her French counterpart by virtue of her independence from customary social norms. L'Américaine is the Other who wants to do something in life (120). Of the three authors discussed, Marie Dugard is the most open to the challenging of social codes this new woman represents, but she doubts such a creature could ever emerge in French society (124). The two male writers find much to admire in the young American, but display little interest in any sort of feminism rooting in France. Pelletier's essay, a study of Paul Hervieu's novel, Flirt, only enhances the French wariness. Flirt deals with an independent-minded young American who falls in love with a young Frenchman, only to drop him when a much wealthier older banker shows up. The essay underscores that, for Hervieu, while the new woman might eschew some domestic constraints, as an American she is not immune to the appeal of the dollar. [End Page 281] William Cloonan Florida State University, emeritus Copyright © 2021 American Association of Teachers of French