La Méditerranée, lieu de naissance d’un roman parisien ou la métamorphose d’un jeune touriste en écrivain

Description

"This paper examines Raymond Queneau’s trip to Greece (July 22nd to November 19th 1932), during which the author wrote his first novel, entitled Le Chiendent (The Weed). In addition to the author’s detailed itinerary in Greece (Athens, the Peloponnese, the Greek islands), the paper presents the influence of Greek civilization as it appears in the novel, despite the fact that its story takes place in Paris and itssuburbs. As a matter of fact, the duality of language (that is, the coexistence of spoken/written language) that had impressed Queneau during his stay in Greece is also very evident in Le Chiendent. Many characters of this "Parisian" novel either symbolize or even bear the names of ancient Greek gods, while — despite its humorous surface — Le Chiendent seems to be marked by Plato’s philosophy."