Resistance: Stories from World War II France by Édith Thomas, and: Résistance: Contes de la seconde Guerre mondiale en France par Édith Thomas

Abstract

Reviewed by: Resistance: Stories from World War II France by Édith Thomas, and: Résistance: Contes de la seconde Guerre mondiale en France par Édith Thomas E. Nicole Meyer Thomas, Édith. Resistance: Stories from World War II France. Trans. Michelle Chilcoat. MLA, 2022. ISBN 978-1-60329-502-4. Pp. 65. Thomas, Édith. Résistance: Contes de la seconde Guerre mondiale en France. Ed. Michelle Chilcoat. MLA, 2022. ISBN 978-1-60329-499-7. Pp. 67. Paired with the French original offered as a companion text, this edition of stories "transcrit[s] du réel" offers instructors and students the opportunity to read Thomas's narratives that reveal responses of ordinary people to extraordinary choices during the Vichy-Nazi era. Originally published anonymously in 1943 under the title Contes d'Auxois by what was then a clandestine publishing house founded by the Thomas and two other members of the Resistance, Les Éditions de Minuit, the stories offered alternative views to the Vichy and Nazi propaganda dropped from airplanes or handed out to French citizens. Thomas chose to serve the Resistance through her words, in the hope of inspiring others to resist the current path towards destruction of death, "des cimetières et des camps de concentration, l'ordre moral des morts" to quote Thomas (viii). "Que peut-on faire?" she wrote in 1940 (viii). These stories pose a cogent answer. Thanks to Chilcoat's new English translation and the updated French companion complete with detailed historical footnotes, we have the opportunity to share a contemporaneous narrative of the difficult choices faced on a daily basis by French citizens during World War II. Furthermore, women's stories of contemporary wartime events were rare, so this edition makes a wonderful companion to World War II-related works by women, for instance, Marguerite Duras's La douleur (1985) and other women's recounting of their war experience, published decades after the war. In one story, an elderly man waits for hours in line with the unlikely chance of bringing home some mussels or tripe for his wife. Her kind act of preparing tea with a rare sugar cube to warm him up after his failure brings him joy. In another, "The Relief" / "La Relève," the accuracy of description is stunning. As I have studied the actual Vichy propaganda designed to encourage the French to go to Germany in order to replace Germans sent to the Russian front, the details of the various pamphlets and images ring true. Thomas describes how "volunteers" soon transformed into "mandatory volunteers" ordered to go. Thus, these men and their companions faced untenable choices as they postponed the inevitable violence to come. Other stories bring back from Germany hints of what is to come if one supports Pétain's and Hitler's programs as well as the dangers of being caught if one resists. Beautifully written, Thomas captures indelible, quiet moments. For instance, "Night Watch" begins with "The Wind has picked up from the west and a full moon gallops behind the clouds above. Trees arch their naked backs along both sides of the road. All is movement and stillness" (22). These two volumes would complement many French literature courses or serve as examples of translation for students pursuing such a focus. With these seven tales, Thomas offers [End Page 182] us the chance to better understand the gray area that sometimes appears between resisting and collaborating as well as the courage required to decide what to do when faced with the difficult decisions the French faced during World War II. [End Page 183] E. Nicole Meyer Augusta University (GA) Copyright © 2023 American Association of Teachers of French