Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clézio
Encyclopedia
Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clézio (ʒɑ̃ maʁi gystav lə klezjo) (born 13 April 1940), usually identified as J. M. G. Le Clézio, is a French
author and professor. The author of over forty works, he was awarded the 1963 Prix Renaudot
for his novel Le Procès-Verbal
.
Le Clézio was awarded the 2008 Nobel Prize in Literature
as an "author of new departures, poetic adventure and sensual ecstasy, explorer of a humanity beyond and below the reigning civilization".
city of Nice
, his father on the island of Mauritius
(which was a British possession, but his father was ethnically French). Both his father's and his mother's ancestors were originally from Morbihan
on the south coast of Brittany
.
His paternal ancestor François Alexis Le Clézio fled France in 1798 and settled with his wife and daughter on the island of Mauritius
, which was then a French colony but would soon pass into British hands. The French colonists were allowed to maintain their French customs and use of the French language. Although the author Le Clézio has never lived in Mauritius for more than a few months at a time, he regards himself both as a Frenchman and a Mauritian. He has dual French
and Mauritian
citizenship (Mauritius gained independence in 1968) and calls Mauritius his "little fatherland".
Le Clézio himself was born in Nice, his mother's native city, during World War II
when his father was serving in the British army
in Nigeria
. He was raised in Roquebillière
, a small village near Nice until 1948 when he, his mother, and his brother boarded a ship to join his father in Nigeria
. His 1991 novel, Onitsha
is partly autobiographical. In a 2004 essay, he reminisced about his childhood in Nigeria and his relationship with his parents.
After studying at the University of Bristol
in England
from 1958 to 1959, he finished his undergraduate degree at Nice's Institut d’études littéraires. In 1964 Le Clézio earned a master's degree from the University of Provence
with a thesis on Henri Michaux
.
After several years spent in London and Bristol, he moved to the United States
to work as a teacher. During 1967 he served in the French military in Thailand
, but was quickly expelled from the country for protesting against child prostitution and sent to Mexico
to finish his military obligation. From 1970 to 1974, he lived with the Embera-Wounaan
tribe in Panama
. He has been married since 1975 to Jémia, who is Moroccan
, and has three daughters (one by a first marriage). Since the 1990s they have divided their residence between Albuquerque
, Mauritius, and Nice.
In 1983 he wrote a doctoral thesis on colonial Mexican history for the University of Perpignan, on the conquest of the P'urhépecha people
(formerly known as "Tarascans") who inhabit the present day state of Michoacán
. It was serialized in a French magazine and published in Spanish translation in 1985.
He has taught at a number of universities around the world. A frequent visitor to South Korea
, he taught French language and literature at Ewha Womans University
in Seoul
during the 2007 academic year.
(The Interrogation) earned him the Prix Renaudot
and was shortlisted for the Prix Goncourt
. Since then he has published more than thirty-six books, including short stories
, novels, essays, two translations on the subject of Native American
mythology, and several children's books.
From 1963 to 1975, Le Clézio explored themes such as insanity
, language
, and writing
. He devoted himself to formal experimentation in the wake of such contemporaries as Georges Perec
or Michel Butor
. His persona was that of an innovator
and a rebel, for which he was praised by Michel Foucault
and Gilles Deleuze
.
During the late 1970s, Le Clézio's style changed drastically; he abandoned experimentation, and the mood of his novels became less tormented as he used themes like childhood
, adolescence
, and traveling, which attracted a broader, more popular audience. In 1980, Le Clézio was the first winner of the newly created Grand Prix Paul Morand
, awarded by the Académie Française
, for his novel, Désert. In 1994, a survey conducted by the French literary magazine Lire
showed that 13 percent of the readers considered him to be the greatest living French language writer.
The Nobel Prize in Literature
for 2008 went to Le Clézio for works characterized by the Swedish Academy
as being "poetic adventure and sensual ecstasy" and for being focused on the environment, especially the desert. The Swedish Academy
, in announcing the award, called Le Clézio an "author of new departures, poetic adventure and sensual ecstasy, explorer of a humanity beyond and below the reigning civilization.". Le Clézio used his Nobel prize acceptance lecture to attack the subject of information poverty. The title of his lecture was Dans la forêt des paradoxes
(in the forest of paradoxes).
Gao Xingjian
, a Chinese
émigré, was the last French citizen to receive the prize (for 2000); Le Clézio was the first French language writer to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature since Claude Simon
for 1985, and the fourteenth since Sully Prudhomme
, laureate of the first prize of 1901.
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
author and professor. The author of over forty works, he was awarded the 1963 Prix Renaudot
Prix Renaudot
The Prix Théophraste-Renaudot or Prix Renaudot is a French literary award which was created in 1926 by ten art critics awaiting the results of the deliberation of the jury of the Prix Goncourt....
for his novel Le Procès-Verbal
Le Procès-Verbal
Le Procès-Verbal is the first novel of French Nobel laureate writer J. M. G. Le Clézio, about a troubled man named Adam Pollo who "struggles to contextualize what he sees" and "to negotiate often disturbing ideas while simultaneously navigating through, for him, life’s absurdity and emptiness".-...
.
Le Clézio was awarded the 2008 Nobel Prize in Literature
Nobel Prize in Literature
Since 1901, the Nobel Prize in Literature has been awarded annually to an author from any country who has, in the words from the will of Alfred Nobel, produced "in the field of literature the most outstanding work in an ideal direction"...
as an "author of new departures, poetic adventure and sensual ecstasy, explorer of a humanity beyond and below the reigning civilization".
Biography
Le Clézio's mother was born in the French RivieraFrench Riviera
The Côte d'Azur, pronounced , often known in English as the French Riviera , is the Mediterranean coastline of the southeast corner of France, also including the sovereign state of Monaco...
city of Nice
Nice
Nice is the fifth most populous city in France, after Paris, Marseille, Lyon and Toulouse, with a population of 348,721 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Nice extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of more than 955,000 on an area of...
, his father on the island of Mauritius
Mauritius
Mauritius , officially the Republic of Mauritius is an island nation off the southeast coast of the African continent in the southwest Indian Ocean, about east of Madagascar...
(which was a British possession, but his father was ethnically French). Both his father's and his mother's ancestors were originally from Morbihan
Morbihan
Morbihan is a department in Brittany, situated in the northwest of France. It is named after the Morbihan , the enclosed sea that is the principal feature of the coastline.-History:...
on the south coast of Brittany
Brittany
Brittany is a cultural and administrative region in the north-west of France. Previously a kingdom and then a duchy, Brittany was united to the Kingdom of France in 1532 as a province. Brittany has also been referred to as Less, Lesser or Little Britain...
.
His paternal ancestor François Alexis Le Clézio fled France in 1798 and settled with his wife and daughter on the island of Mauritius
Mauritius
Mauritius , officially the Republic of Mauritius is an island nation off the southeast coast of the African continent in the southwest Indian Ocean, about east of Madagascar...
, which was then a French colony but would soon pass into British hands. The French colonists were allowed to maintain their French customs and use of the French language. Although the author Le Clézio has never lived in Mauritius for more than a few months at a time, he regards himself both as a Frenchman and a Mauritian. He has dual French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
and Mauritian
Mauritius
Mauritius , officially the Republic of Mauritius is an island nation off the southeast coast of the African continent in the southwest Indian Ocean, about east of Madagascar...
citizenship (Mauritius gained independence in 1968) and calls Mauritius his "little fatherland".
Le Clézio himself was born in Nice, his mother's native city, during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
when his father was serving in the British army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
in Nigeria
Nigeria
Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...
. He was raised in Roquebillière
Roquebillière
Roquebillière is a commune in the Alpes-Maritimes department in southeastern France.-Population:- External links : &...
, a small village near Nice until 1948 when he, his mother, and his brother boarded a ship to join his father in Nigeria
Colonial Nigeria
Colonial Nigeria ran from 1800 till October 1, 1960 when it gained independence. Up until the amalgamation of 1914, the country's constituting parts existed as separate British protectorates.-Abolition of the Slave Trade:...
. His 1991 novel, Onitsha
Onitsha (novel)
Onitsha is a novel by French author and Nobel laureate J. M. G. Le Clézio. It was originally published in French in 1991 and an English translation was released in 1997.-Plot summary:...
is partly autobiographical. In a 2004 essay, he reminisced about his childhood in Nigeria and his relationship with his parents.
After studying at the University of Bristol
University of Bristol
The University of Bristol is a public research university located in Bristol, United Kingdom. One of the so-called "red brick" universities, it received its Royal Charter in 1909, although its predecessor institution, University College, Bristol, had been in existence since 1876.The University is...
in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
from 1958 to 1959, he finished his undergraduate degree at Nice's Institut d’études littéraires. In 1964 Le Clézio earned a master's degree from the University of Provence
University of Provence
The University of Provence Aix-Marseille I is a public university mostly located in Aix-en-Provence and Marseille. It is one of the three Universities of Aix-Marseille and is part of the Academy of Aix and Marseille.-Overview:...
with a thesis on Henri Michaux
Henri Michaux
Henri Michaux was a highly idiosyncratic Belgian-born poet, writer, and painter who wrote in French. He later took French citizenship. Michaux is best known for his esoteric books written in a highly accessible style, and his body of work includes poetry, travelogues, and art criticism...
.
After several years spent in London and Bristol, he moved to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
to work as a teacher. During 1967 he served in the French military in Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
, but was quickly expelled from the country for protesting against child prostitution and sent to Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
to finish his military obligation. From 1970 to 1974, he lived with the Embera-Wounaan
Embera-Wounaan
The Embera–Wounaan are a group of semi-nomadic Indians in Panama, living in the province of Darien at the shores of the Chucunaque, Sambu, Tuira Rivers and its water ways...
tribe in Panama
Panama
Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...
. He has been married since 1975 to Jémia, who is Moroccan
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
, and has three daughters (one by a first marriage). Since the 1990s they have divided their residence between Albuquerque
Albuquerque, New Mexico
Albuquerque is the largest city in the state of New Mexico, United States. It is the county seat of Bernalillo County and is situated in the central part of the state, straddling the Rio Grande. The city population was 545,852 as of the 2010 Census and ranks as the 32nd-largest city in the U.S. As...
, Mauritius, and Nice.
In 1983 he wrote a doctoral thesis on colonial Mexican history for the University of Perpignan, on the conquest of the P'urhépecha people
P'urhépecha
The P'urhépecha, normally spelled Purépecha in Spanish and in English and traditionally referred to as Tarascans, are an indigenous people centered in the northwestern region of the Mexican state of Michoacán, principally in the area of the cities of Uruapan and Pátzcuaro...
(formerly known as "Tarascans") who inhabit the present day state of Michoacán
Michoacán
Michoacán officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Michoacán de Ocampo is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 113 municipalities and its capital city is Morelia...
. It was serialized in a French magazine and published in Spanish translation in 1985.
He has taught at a number of universities around the world. A frequent visitor to South Korea
South Korea
The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...
, he taught French language and literature at Ewha Womans University
Ewha Womans University
Ewha Womans University is a private women's university in central Seoul, South Korea. It is one of the city's largest institutions of higher learning and currently the world's largest female educational institute. It is one of the best-known universities in South Korea, and often considered to...
in Seoul
Seoul
Seoul , officially the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea. A megacity with a population of over 10 million, it is the largest city proper in the OECD developed world...
during the 2007 academic year.
Literary career
Le Clézio has been writing since age seven; his first work was a book about the sea. He achieved very early success at age 23 when his first novel Le Procès-VerbalLe Procès-Verbal
Le Procès-Verbal is the first novel of French Nobel laureate writer J. M. G. Le Clézio, about a troubled man named Adam Pollo who "struggles to contextualize what he sees" and "to negotiate often disturbing ideas while simultaneously navigating through, for him, life’s absurdity and emptiness".-...
(The Interrogation) earned him the Prix Renaudot
Prix Renaudot
The Prix Théophraste-Renaudot or Prix Renaudot is a French literary award which was created in 1926 by ten art critics awaiting the results of the deliberation of the jury of the Prix Goncourt....
and was shortlisted for the Prix Goncourt
Prix Goncourt
The Prix Goncourt is a prize in French literature, given by the académie Goncourt to the author of "the best and most imaginative prose work of the year"...
. Since then he has published more than thirty-six books, including short stories
Short Stories
Short Stories may refer to:*A plural for Short story*Short Stories , an American pulp magazine published from 1890-1959*Short Stories, a 1954 collection by O. E...
, novels, essays, two translations on the subject of Native American
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
mythology, and several children's books.
From 1963 to 1975, Le Clézio explored themes such as insanity
Insanity
Insanity, craziness or madness is a spectrum of behaviors characterized by certain abnormal mental or behavioral patterns. Insanity may manifest as violations of societal norms, including becoming a danger to themselves and others, though not all such acts are considered insanity...
, language
Language
Language may refer either to the specifically human capacity for acquiring and using complex systems of communication, or to a specific instance of such a system of complex communication...
, and writing
Writing
Writing is the representation of language in a textual medium through the use of a set of signs or symbols . It is distinguished from illustration, such as cave drawing and painting, and non-symbolic preservation of language via non-textual media, such as magnetic tape audio.Writing most likely...
. He devoted himself to formal experimentation in the wake of such contemporaries as Georges Perec
Georges Perec
Georges Perec was a French novelist, filmmaker, documentalist and essayist. He is a member of the Oulipo group...
or Michel Butor
Michel Butor
-Life and work:Michel Marie François Butor was born in Mons-en-Barœul. He studied philosophy at the Sorbonne, graduating in 1947. He has taught in Egypt, Manchester, Salonika, the United States, and Geneva...
. His persona was that of an innovator
Innovation
Innovation is the creation of better or more effective products, processes, technologies, or ideas that are accepted by markets, governments, and society...
and a rebel, for which he was praised by Michel Foucault
Michel Foucault
Michel Foucault , born Paul-Michel Foucault , was a French philosopher, social theorist and historian of ideas...
and Gilles Deleuze
Gilles Deleuze
Gilles Deleuze , was a French philosopher who, from the early 1960s until his death, wrote influentially on philosophy, literature, film, and fine art. His most popular works were the two volumes of Capitalism and Schizophrenia: Anti-Oedipus and A Thousand Plateaus , both co-written with Félix...
.
During the late 1970s, Le Clézio's style changed drastically; he abandoned experimentation, and the mood of his novels became less tormented as he used themes like childhood
Childhood
Childhood is the age span ranging from birth to adolescence. In developmental psychology, childhood is divided up into the developmental stages of toddlerhood , early childhood , middle childhood , and adolescence .- Age ranges of childhood :The term childhood is non-specific and can imply a...
, adolescence
Adolescence
Adolescence is a transitional stage of physical and mental human development generally occurring between puberty and legal adulthood , but largely characterized as beginning and ending with the teenage stage...
, and traveling, which attracted a broader, more popular audience. In 1980, Le Clézio was the first winner of the newly created Grand Prix Paul Morand
Paul Morand
Paul Morand was a French diplomat, novelist, playwright and poet, considered an early Modernist.He was a graduate of the Paris Institute of Political Studies...
, awarded by the Académie Française
Académie française
L'Académie française , also called the French Academy, is the pre-eminent French learned body on matters pertaining to the French language. The Académie was officially established in 1635 by Cardinal Richelieu, the chief minister to King Louis XIII. Suppressed in 1793 during the French Revolution,...
, for his novel, Désert. In 1994, a survey conducted by the French literary magazine Lire
Lire
Lire is a French literary magazine covering both French and foreign literature. It was founded in 1975 by Jean-Louis Servan-Schreiber and Bernard Pivot.-External links:*...
showed that 13 percent of the readers considered him to be the greatest living French language writer.
Nobel Prize
Nobel Prize in Literature
Since 1901, the Nobel Prize in Literature has been awarded annually to an author from any country who has, in the words from the will of Alfred Nobel, produced "in the field of literature the most outstanding work in an ideal direction"...
for 2008 went to Le Clézio for works characterized by the Swedish Academy
Swedish Academy
The Swedish Academy , founded in 1786 by King Gustav III, is one of the Royal Academies of Sweden.-History:The Swedish Academy was founded in 1786 by King Gustav III. Modelled after the Académie française, it has 18 members. The motto of the Academy is "Talent and Taste"...
as being "poetic adventure and sensual ecstasy" and for being focused on the environment, especially the desert. The Swedish Academy
Swedish Academy
The Swedish Academy , founded in 1786 by King Gustav III, is one of the Royal Academies of Sweden.-History:The Swedish Academy was founded in 1786 by King Gustav III. Modelled after the Académie française, it has 18 members. The motto of the Academy is "Talent and Taste"...
, in announcing the award, called Le Clézio an "author of new departures, poetic adventure and sensual ecstasy, explorer of a humanity beyond and below the reigning civilization.". Le Clézio used his Nobel prize acceptance lecture to attack the subject of information poverty. The title of his lecture was Dans la forêt des paradoxes
Dans la forêt des paradoxes
"Dans la forêt des paradoxes" is an essay written by French author and Nobel laureate J. M. G. Le Clézio in French and translated into English by Alison Anderson as In the forest of paradoxes.-Purpose:...
(in the forest of paradoxes).
Gao Xingjian
Gao Xingjian
Gao Xingjian is a Chinese-born novelist, playwright, critic, and painter. An émigré to France since 1987, Gao was granted French citizenship in 1997...
, a Chinese
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
émigré, was the last French citizen to receive the prize (for 2000); Le Clézio was the first French language writer to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature since Claude Simon
Claude Simon
Claude Simon was a French novelist and the 1985 Nobel Laureate in Literature. He was born in Antananarivo, Madagascar, and died in Paris, France....
for 1985, and the fourteenth since Sully Prudhomme
Sully Prudhomme
René François Armand Prudhomme was a French poet and essayist, winner of the first Nobel Prize in Literature, in 1901....
, laureate of the first prize of 1901.
Novels
- Le Procès-Verbal (The Interrogation)Le Procès-VerbalLe Procès-Verbal is the first novel of French Nobel laureate writer J. M. G. Le Clézio, about a troubled man named Adam Pollo who "struggles to contextualize what he sees" and "to negotiate often disturbing ideas while simultaneously navigating through, for him, life’s absurdity and emptiness".-...
- Le Jour où Beaumont fit connaissance avec sa douleurLe Jour où Beaumont fit connaissance avec sa douleurLe Jour où Beaumont fit connaissance avec sa douleuris a novella written in French by French author and Nobel laureate J. M. G. Le Clézio. It is one of the first published texts written by Le Clézio...
- Le Livre des fuites (The Book of Flights: An Adventure Story)Le Livre des fuitesLe Livre des fuites was written in French by French author and Nobel laureate J. M. G. Le Clézio and translated into English as The Book of Flights: An Adventure Story by Simon Watson Taylor...
- Le déluge (The Flood)Le délugeLe déluge is an early fictional work about trouble and fear in major Western cities by Nobel laureate J.M.G. Le Clézio.-Contents:...
- Terra amata (Terra amata)Terra Amata (novel)Terra Amata is an early fictional novel by French author and Nobel laureate J. M. G. Le Clézio.-Plot summary:Terra Amata is about a man named Chancelade, and his detailed view of an otherwise ordinary life, from his early childhood to his grave....
- La Guerre (War)La GuerreLa Guerre is a novel by French author and Nobel laureate J. M. G. Le Clézio and translated into English as War....
- Voyages de l'autre côté
- Désert (Desert)Désert (novel)Désert is the title of a novel written by French author and Nobel laureate J. M. G. Le Clézio, considered to be one of his breakthrough novels. It won the Académie française's Grand Prix Paul Morand in 1980.-Plot summary:Two stories are interwoven...
- Le Chercheur d'or (The prospector)Le Chercheur d'orLe Chercheur d'or is the title of a novel written in French by French author and Nobel laureate J. M. G. Le Clézio and translated into English as The prospector by Carol Marks and published by David R...
- Étoile errante (Wandering Star : a Novel)Étoile erranteWandering Star is a novel by French author and Nobel laureate J. M. G. Le Clézio. The novel tells the story of two teenage girls on the threshold and in the aftermath of World War II...
- Onitsha (Onitsha)Onitsha (novel)Onitsha is a novel by French author and Nobel laureate J. M. G. Le Clézio. It was originally published in French in 1991 and an English translation was released in 1997.-Plot summary:...
- La QuarantaineLa Quarantaine (novel)La Quarantaine is the title of a novel written in French by French author and Nobel laureate J. M. G. Le Clézio .-Plot summary:...
- Poisson d'orPoisson d'or (novel)Poisson d'or is a novel by the French author and Nobel laureate J. M. G. Le Clézio. It is the story of an Arab girl whose life is full of adventures...
- Hasard suivi de Angoli MalaHasard suivi de Angoli MalaHasard suivi de Angoli Mala is the title given to a book with two novellas' written in French by French author and Nobel laureate J. M. G. Le Clézio .-Hasard :-Angoli Mala :...
- Fantômes dans la rueFantômes dans la rueFantômes dans la rue is the title of a novella written in French by French author and Nobel laureate J. M. G. Le Clézio. His daughter Amy Le Clézio suggested the storyline to this novella. It was first published in the French language magazine Elle, n° 2845 dated 10 July 2000.-Extract:...
- RévolutionsRévolutions (novel)Révolutions is a novel by French author and Nobel laureate J. M. G. Le Clézio....
- OuraniaOurania (novel)Ourania is the title of a novel written in French by French author and Nobel laureate J. M. G. Le Clézio .-Plot summary:Le Clézio lived for fifteen years in a small village in Mexico called Valle de Bravo. Children invented an imaginary country and ideal, Ourania, and this book describes a...
- Ritournelle de la faimRitournelle de la faimRitournelle de la faim is the title of a novel written in French by French author and Nobel laureate J. M. G. Le Clézio .-Plot summary:Set in Paris in the 1930s, it tells the story of Ethel, a young woman who must save herself and her parents, torn by the age's politics and their hatred for each...
Essays
- Le Rêve mexicain ou la pensée interrompue (The Mexican Dream, Or, The Interrupted Thought of Amerindian Civilizations)The Mexican Dream, Or, The Interrupted Thought of Amerindian Civilizations"The Mexican Dream, Or, The Interrupted Thought of Amerindian Civilizations" is the English translation of an essay written in French by French author and Nobel laureate J. M. G...
- Conversations avec J.M.G. Le ClézioConversations avec J.M.G. Le Clézio"Conversations avec J.M.G. Le Clézio" are the written dialogues in French from the conversations from September 2.,1969 and from the January 11. until the January 16.,1971 when Pierre Lhoste interviewed French author and Nobel laureate J. M. G. Le Clézio.Introduction written by J.M.G. Le Clézio....
- Haï
- MydriaseMydriase"Mydriase"is an essay written by French author and Nobel laureate J. M. G. Le Clézio.-Subject:Mydriasis refers to the dilation of the pupils in a state of hallucinatory enlightenment...
- Vers les icebergs (Essai sur Henri Michaux)Vers les icebergs (Essai sur Henri Michaux)Vers les icebergs [Essai sur Henri Michaux] is an essay by J. M. G. Le Clézio on Henri Michaux.Vers les icebergs could well be translated into English as To the Icebergs according to France.com.-Henri Michaux:...
- L'Inconnu sur la TerreL'Inconnu sur la Terre"L'Inconnu sur la Terre" is an essay written by French author and Nobel laureate J. M. G. Le Clézio.-Subject:Described by the author as being a long journal written on Italian schoolbooks of a young boy's erratic walkabout on the soil, though not far from the sea, somewhat lost in the fog, and who...
- Trois Villes saintesTrois Villes saintes"Trois Villes saintes" is an essay written by French author and Nobel laureate J. M. G. Le Clézio.-Subject:Men, three cities, Chancah, Tixcacal, Chun Pom, and the drought that attacks the freedom stifled by the silence of the gods who could speak and were silent...
- Dans la maison d'EdithDans la maison d'EdithDans la maison d'Edith is an essay written by French author and Nobel laureate J. M. G. Le Clézio. It was written in French and has not been translated into English, however the title translates as In Edith's House.-Drawings and photographs:...
- Sur LautréamontSur Lautréamont"Sur Lautréamont" is an essay written by French author and Nobel laureate J. M. G. Le Clézio.-Contents:*Section 1**Marcel Proust, Flaubert, Préface)*Section 2**MAURICE, Préface*Section 3**ZEEV STERNHELL, LÉON POLIAKOV, ALFRED GROSSER*Section 4...
- Diego et FridaDiego et FridaDiego et Frida is a biography of Mexican painters Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo by French author and Nobel laureate J. M. G. Le Clézio. It was originally published in the French language in 1993.-External links:* Éditions Stock...
- AilleursAilleursAilleurs are the transcripts of a series of interviews between Jean-Louis Ezine and the French author and Nobel laureate J. M. G. Le Clézio.-Short summary:...
- EnfancesEnfances"Enfances" is an essay written by French author and Nobel laureate J. M. G. Le Clézio for a book of the same name which was co-written by Brigitte Fossey and set to photographs by Christophe Kuhn.-Purpose:...
- Le Llano en flammes
- L'Extase matérielleL'Extase matérielle'L'Extase matérielle' is an essay written by French author and Nobel laureate J. M. G. Le Clézio. The book's title means Material Ecstasy in English. This essay may be advising that we should pay the utmost attention to what there is around us, not to what there might be or ought to be...
- L’Africain
- Une lettre de J.M.G. Le ClezioUne lettre de J.M.G. Le Clezio"Une lettre de J.M.G. Le Clezio"is an essay written by French author and Nobel laureate J. M. G. Le Clézio.-Revue des Deux Mondes:Une lettre de J.M.G...
- BallacinerBallacinerBallaciner is an essay by French author and Nobel laureate J. M. G. Le Clézio with help from Gilles Jacob . It was originally published in French in 2003.Ballaciner was described by the Nobel committee as...
- La liberté pour Rêver (Freedom to Dream)Freedom to Dream and Freedom to Speak"La liberté pour Rêver" and "La liberté pour parler" are essays written in French by French author and Nobel laureate J. M. G. Le Clézio and translated into English as "Freedom to Dream" and "Freedom to Speak" and published by World Literature Today ....
and - La liberté pour parler (Freedom to Speak)Freedom to Dream and Freedom to Speak"La liberté pour Rêver" and "La liberté pour parler" are essays written in French by French author and Nobel laureate J. M. G. Le Clézio and translated into English as "Freedom to Dream" and "Freedom to Speak" and published by World Literature Today ....
- Sur la lecture comme le vrai voyage (On reading as true travel)On reading as true travelOn reading as true travel is an essay written in French by French author and Nobel laureate J. M. G...
Short stories
- La Fièvre (Fever)La fièvreLa fièvre is the title of a set of short stories written in French by French author and Nobel laureate J. M. G. Le Clézio and translated into English by Daphne Woodward as Fever and published by Atheneum.-Contents:...
- Mondo et autres histoiresMondo et autres histoiresMondo et autres histoires is the title of a set of short stories written in French by French author and Nobel laureate J. M. G. Le Clézio .Very visual language in a series of dreamlike settings.- Mondo :...
(Mondo and other stories) - La ronde et autres faits divers (The Round & Other Cold Hard Facts )La ronde et autres faits diversLa ronde et autres faits divers is the title of a set of short stories written in French by French author and Nobel laureate J. M. G. Le Clézio and translated into English as The Round & Other Cold Hard Facts.-Geographical Background:...
- Printemps et autres saisonsPrintemps et autres saisonsPrintemps et autres saisons is the title of a collection of short stories written in French by French author and Nobel laureate J. M. G. Le Clézio .-Contents:* Printemps* Fascination* Le temps ne passe pas* Zinna...
- Awaité Pawana (Pawana)PawanaPawana is a short story written in French by French author and Nobel laureate J. M. G. Le Clézio.-Historical Basis:According to the author this is a true story about the whaler Charles Melville Scammon...
- La Fête chantée et autres essais de thème amérindienLa Fête chantée et autres essais de thème amérindienLa Fête chantée et autres essais de thème amérindien is the title of a collection of short stories written in French by French author and Nobel laureate J. M. G...
- Cœur brûle et autres romancesCœur brûle et autres romancesCœur brûle et autres romances is the title of a collection of short stories written in French by French author and Nobel laureate J. M. G...
- Tabataba suivi de pawanaTabataba suivi de pawanaTabataba suivi de pawana is the title of two short stories "Tabataba" followed by Pawanain one book written in French by French author and Nobel laureate J. M. G...
Travel Diaries
- Voyage à Rodrigues
- Gens des nuagesGens des nuagesGens des nuages is a travel journal written in French by French author and Nobel laureate J. M. G. Le Clézio and his wife Jémia.-Jémia Le Clézio:...
- Raga. Approche du continent invisible
Collections Translated by the Author into French.
- Les Prophéties du Chilam Balam
- Relation de Michoacan
- Sirandanes
Books for Children
- Celui qui n'avait jamais vu la mer (The Boy Who Had Never Seen the Sea)Celui qui n'avait jamais vu la merCelui qui n'avait jamais vu la mer is the title of two novellas written in French by French author and Nobel laureate J. M. G...
- LullabyLullaby (1980 novel)Lullaby is the title of a novel written in French by French author and Nobel laureate J. M. G. Le Clézio .-Plot summary:The adolescent Lullaby strolls the beaches, cliffs and caves on the outskirts of her home town...
- Les Géants (The Giants)
- Voyage au pays des arbresVoyage au pays des arbresVoyage au pays des arbres is the title of a novel written in French by French author and Nobel laureate J. M. G. Le Clézio.A little boy is bored and dreams of traveling deep into the forest, where he meets a profound old oak and gets invited to a party by some young trees-Theme:...
- Villa Aurore ; suivi de, Orlamonde
- Villa Aurore
- L'enfant de sous le pont
- La Grande Vie suivi de Peuple du ciel
- Peuple du ciel, suivi de 'Les Bergers
- Balaabilou
Books written by other authors with preface written by Le Clézio
- The French language preface to Juan Rulfo's
short story collection "Le Llano en flammes"
Awards
| Year | Prize | Work |
| 1963 | prix Théophraste-Renaudot Prix Renaudot The Prix Théophraste-Renaudot or Prix Renaudot is a French literary award which was created in 1926 by ten art critics awaiting the results of the deliberation of the jury of the Prix Goncourt.... |
Le Procès-Verbal (The Interrogation) Le Procès-Verbal Le Procès-Verbal is the first novel of French Nobel laureate writer J. M. G. Le Clézio, about a troubled man named Adam Pollo who "struggles to contextualize what he sees" and "to negotiate often disturbing ideas while simultaneously navigating through, for him, life’s absurdity and emptiness".-... |
| 1972 | prix littéraire Valery-Larbaud Prix Littéraire Valery Larbaud The Prix littéraire Valery Larbaud is a French literary prize created in 1967, ten years after writer Valery Larbaud's death, by L'Association Internationale des Amis de Valery Larbaud, an organization dedicated to the promotion of his works. The prize is awarded to writers of books the jurists... |
For his complete works |
| 1980 | grand prix de littérature Paul-Morand, awarded by the Académie française Académie française L'Académie française , also called the French Academy, is the pre-eminent French learned body on matters pertaining to the French language. The Académie was officially established in 1635 by Cardinal Richelieu, the chief minister to King Louis XIII. Suppressed in 1793 during the French Revolution,... |
|
| 1997 | Mécénat des prix Jean Giono | Poisson d'or Poisson d'or (novel) Poisson d'or is a novel by the French author and Nobel laureate J. M. G. Le Clézio. It is the story of an Arab girl whose life is full of adventures... |
| 1998 | prix Prince-de-Monaco | For his complete works and upon publication of Poisson d'or Poisson d'or (novel) Poisson d'or is a novel by the French author and Nobel laureate J. M. G. Le Clézio. It is the story of an Arab girl whose life is full of adventures... |
| 2008 | Stig Dagermanpriset | for his complete works and upon publication of Swedish Swedish language Swedish is a North Germanic language, spoken by approximately 10 million people, predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along its coast and on the Åland islands. It is largely mutually intelligible with Norwegian and Danish... translation of a travelogue Raga. Approche du continent invisible |
| 2008 | Nobel Prize in Literature Nobel Prize in Literature Since 1901, the Nobel Prize in Literature has been awarded annually to an author from any country who has, in the words from the will of Alfred Nobel, produced "in the field of literature the most outstanding work in an ideal direction"... |
Honours
- He was made Chevalier (Knight) of the Légion d'honneurLégion d'honneurThe Legion of Honour, or in full the National Order of the Legion of Honour is a French order established by Napoleon Bonaparte, First Consul of the Consulat which succeeded to the First Republic, on 19 May 1802...
on 25 October 1991 and was promoted to Officier (Officer) in 2009 - In 1996, he was made Officier (Officer) of the Ordre national du MériteOrdre National du MériteThe Ordre national du Mérite is an Order of State awarded by the President of the French Republic. It was founded on 3 December 1963 by President Charles de Gaulle...
.
See also
- Jean-Louis de RamburesJean-Louis de RamburesJean-Louis Vicomte de Bretizel Rambures was a French journalist, author, translator of literature, literary critic, and cultural attaché.- Life :...
, "Comment travaillent les écrivains", Flammarion, Paris 1978; interview with J.M.G. Le Clézio
External links
- J.M.G. Le Clézio (1940-), Biography, from `Books and Writers`.
- Interview with Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clézio, in Label France No. 45 (English)
- J.M.G Le Clézio -- Photos by Mathieu Bourgois.
- J.M.G. Le Clézio, about his Breton origins.
- "Nobel Goes Global With Literary Prize", by Bob Thompson, Washington Post, October 10, 2008
- "A Nobel Undertaking: Getting to Know Le Clézio ", by Richard Woodward, Wall Street Journal, Oct. 30, 2008
- "J. M. G. Le Clézio, Nobel laureate": a collection of pieces on Clézio, from TLS, October 9, 2008
- A writing life in pictures: Nobel laureate Jean-Marie Le Clézio, The GuardianThe GuardianThe Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
, October 9, 2008 - Artelittera Many chapters of studies about Le Clezio to upload
- J.M.G. Le Clézio: A French NovelistWins 2008 Nobel Prize for Literature