temps, de traverser le visible. Il y a dans la nouvelle éponyme une très jolie référence aux idées qui cachent la lâcheté de l’homme qui fait l’enfant autant qu’il fait l’écrivain. Pour Leduc-Leblanc, il ne s’agit plus de vivre par procuration; il faut sans cesse partir pour se réinventer, même si, en cherchant comment dire les choses, on oublie parfois ce que l’on voulait dire. Western Kentucky University Karin Egloff MAGOUDI, ALI. Un sujet français. Paris: Albin Michel, 2011. ISBN 978-2-226-22973-1. Pp. 410. 22 a. French writer and psychoanalyst Ali Magoudi’s book, nominated for the 2011 Prix Goncourt, fascinates by its theme and defiance of literary genres. As he investigates his father’s life between 1903 and 1953, a period about which his father never spoke, Magoudi transgresses the biography format: he simultaneously records his own memoir on researching the fragments of his father’s adulthood, especially why the latter was in Poland in 1940 and under what circumstances this Algerian, Muslim man met and married his Polish, Catholic wife and had three children. Suspense builds in the narrative as national archives housing World War II documents support and refute the author’s understanding of Abdelkader Magoudi. The facts to be investigated, including the possible first marriage between Abdelkader and a Frenchwoman, their children, the family’s subsequent disappearance, and the elder Magoudi’s time in a Nazi concentration camp further capture the reader’s interest. The author’s methodical approach and detailed ruminations place the reader on the same informational quest and virtually within the author’s mind as he solves some of the riddles pertaining to his parent. As the title indicates, this biography/memoir concerns a French “sujet,” which has many definitions, including someone living under the laws of a powerful entity, such as the subjects of a monarch. Magoudi discovers that his father held the status of “sujet français de droit local” (49), even after Abdelkader had served in the French armed forces in the 1920s and 30s. It was an attempt by the government to control the number of Muslims granted French citizenship: “Entre 1870 et 1960, seuls 7 000 (bien lire sept mille) musulmans d’Algérie acquirent la naturalisation française qui leur conférait le statut de Français ordinaires” (49); whereas the colonized Algerian population numbered approximately 5,600,000 in the 1930s. Fortunately for Magoudi, knowing his father’s true status in France helps him access specialized sources of information pertaining to North African immigrants. Besides the elder Magoudi being “un sujet français” politically, he insisted for years that he would become the subject of a book written by his son: “Ma vie est un véritable roman. Quand tu seras grand, je te la raconterai et tu l’écriras” (9, 16). Despite his repeated instructions, he never recounted his life to his son, thereby leaving Ali with the unrealized book on his conscience, especially after his parent’s death. Writing his father’s life/novel, therefore, becomes a means of honoring Abdelkader’s wishes, with cathartic benefits for Ali. While working on the book, Magoudi internalizes the mantra “Rigoureux. Systématique. Ordonné” (81, 84, 85, 158). This attitude fails, however, when documentation on a stillborn younger brother implicates Ali more emotionally in his investigation. Henceforth, he imagines his father’s psychological response to his loss, and the title gains new meaning for Ali, seeking to understand Abdelkader’s feelings and his 422 FRENCH REVIEW 86.2 own. The story of the Frenchman’s research into his Algerian immigrant father’s past signifies not only a specifically historical ‘sujet français,’ namely colonization and its ensuing hardships for the colonized, but equally, the son’s desire to see his silent father as a feeling human being, which is a universal theme. University of Texas, El Paso Jane E. Evans MALHERBE, DELPHINE DE. L’aimer ou le fuir. Paris: Plon, 2011. ISBN 978-2-259-21290-8. Pp. 125. 17 a. Ce très court roman est ancré dans la biographie de Colette. Dans une brève discussion en...
Read full abstract
Jan 30, 2014
Willis A Jones 
Open Access