Mavis Gallant's Paris

Title: Mavis Gallant's Paris
Variant title:
  • Le Paris de Mavis Gallant
Author: Zsizsmann, Éva
Source document: The Central European journal of Canadian studies. 2016, vol. 10-11, iss. [1], pp. 31-40
Extent
31-40
  • ISSN
    1213-7715 (print)
    2336-4556 (online)
Type: Article
Language
License: Not specified license
 

Notice: These citations are automatically created and might not follow citation rules properly.

Abstract(s)
"All immigration is based on misapprehension," says Gallant in Paris Stories (2002). Despite the title, the stories in the collection take place all over Europe, catching the behaviour of the out-of-place citizen. Most of the characters are permanent wanderers whose peripatetic fate is equally peripatetic. They are shown to inhabit transient states, dwelling in the zone between thought and possible action. The article focuses on memory, place and belonging, exploring "A State of Affairs" and "Forain," each written in 1991 and each figuring Polish immigrants in Paris after the Second World War. I propose to discuss the way in which Gallant's texts feature the workings of memory and the working of language on the events of the past, in the context of the immigrant experience. I also focus on Gallant's preoccupation with narratives of aging and the construction of the self.
« Toute l'immigration est basée sur un malentendu », dit Mavis Gallant dans Paris Stories (2002). Malgré le titre, les nouvelles de ce recueil se concentrent sur le comportement du citoyen déplacé dans toute l'Europe. La plupart des personnages sont des vagabonds permanents, dont le destin péripatétique n'est pas intentionnel. Ils sont dans des états transitoires ; ils habitent la zone entre la pensée et l'action possible. L'article met l'accent sur la mémoire, le lieu et l'appartenance, l'exploration de deux nouvelles, toutes deux écrites en 1991, et les immigrants polonais à Paris après la Seconde Guerre mondiale. Je propose de discuter de la manière dont les textes présentent le fonctionnement de la mémoire et le fonctionnement du langage dans le contexte de l'expérience de l'immigrant. Je m'intéresse aussi aux récits sur le vieillissement et la construction du soi qui occupent une place importante chez Gallant.
References
[1] Gallant, Mavis. The Collected Stories of Mavis Gallant. New York: Random House, 1996. Print.

[2] Harriott, Esther. Writers and Age: Essays on and Interviews with Five Authors. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Co, 2015. Print.

[3] McGahern, John. "The Adult Mysteries." The New York Times, September 12, 1993. Web. 1 June 2016.

[4] Ondaatje, Michael. Introduction. A Handful of Small Shipwrecks, in: Mavis Gallant, Paris Stories. New York: The New York Review Books, 2002. Print.

[5] See, Carolyn. "Paris as Prison: Across the Bridge: Ten Short Stories, by Mavis Gallant." Los Angeles Times, November 14, 1993. Web. 1 June 2016.

[6] Saikali, Andrew, "The Elusive Thread of Memory: The Displaced World of Mavis Gallant." The Millions, 19 February 2008. Web. 1 June 2016.