Philippe Forest Lecture: On Autofiction

'Autofiction' is often said to be the main cause for the decline of French literature and the major reason readers throughout the world have turned aside from French novels. It is seen as one of the symptoms of the collapse of French literature after the era of the avant-gardes, a return to a neo-naturalistic conception, producing narcissistic fictions unable to deal with major philosophical, political or even literary issues. But one can argue that, far from being such a revival, contemporary autofiction inherits from true modernity - from surrealism to structuralism - and asserts itself as a new form of experimental literature. Philippe Forest has taught French literature in several British universities, including St Andrews, Cambridge and London, and is now Professor at the University of Nantes. He is the author of several studies on the history of literary and artistic avant-gardes, a monograph on Joyce, and a series of essays on Japanese literature. He is the author of six novels published by Editions Gallimard. His works have been widely translated. Sarinagara (Prix Décembre 2004) is his only novel translated into English thus far. Earlier, at 12:30 he will lead a roundtable discussion in French, The French Novel Today. Sponsored by the Center for French and Francophone Studies, PAL Seminar on The Contemporary Novel, Department of English, Franklin Humanities Institute and Book Department of the French Cultural Services of the French Embassy in NYC.