Paradigms of memory

the long version

The first collective study in English of the novels of Patrick Modiano (b. 1945), these essays approach the question of memory - and its interaction with history - in Modiano's works from several different theoretical and critical angles, all leading to an examination of the relationship between recollection and representation. The historical background of the Nazi occupation of France offers grounds for reflection on the ambiguous relationship between individual and collective memory. Through investigation, memory, repetition, and a coming to writing, Modiano's narrators represent each one of us as we come to terms with our individual and historical past.