Revolution, Reflection and Memory, and the Interactions Between History and Literature in Lydie Salvayre’s Pas pleurer and Olivier Rolin’s Tigre en papier

Abstract

How do reflection and memory function in novels about historical events? How do literature and history influence one another? To answer these guiding questions, this research investigates memory, reflection, and the interactions between literature and history in two 21st century French novels about historical revolutions. At first glance, Lydie Salvayre’s Pas pleurer and Olivier Rolin’s Tigre en papier are very similar. In both, one older character tells stories to a younger character about the revolution that took place when the older character was young. Salvayre discusses the Spanish Revolution of 1936, and Rolin discusses the leftist political and social movement of the late 1960s in France. In both novels, the author is represented by one of these two main characters, and the plot is heavily influenced by the real lives of the author or their family members. Despite all these similarities, the two novels take very different approaches to the function of memory, and they differ in their general mode of depicting a revolution through literature. Both approaches are unconventional, and both offer insight into the ways that literature and the historical record inform one another. 

First, I read Salvayre’s Pas pleurer as part of Extreme Contemporary and Directed Research in FFS. After choosing Salvayre’s novel to research, I found another 21st century French novel that also speaks to revolution, memory, and history: Rolin’s Tigre en papier. After reading that novel outside of coursework, I gathered information from articles, books, and interviews in order to formulate an analysis. The two main novels, plus six other sources, provided me with a knowledge base to analyze the novels’ use of memory and reflection, and how the novels influence and are influenced by the real history they portray. 

In sum, research shows that Salvayre and Rolin’s differing choices concerning memory and reflection, such as function and style, manifest differently in order to support the authors’ differing messages. Neither choice interferes with historical understanding, though the two broad choices of memory and reflection are almost completely opposite. Concerning the interactions between literature and history: though neither author seeks complete historical objectivity or accuracy, research shows that this style of literature adds to the historical record, speaking to themes such as national memory, the testimony of the silenced or forgotten, and post-revolution fallout. In turn, Salvayre and Rolin both give their reader a snapshot into the life of a revolutionary; history influences this kind of literature, but the authors seek to convey a feeling or a moment in history, rather than conveying a completely accurate account of a revolution.