French literature: the vocabulary of literary analysis

The toolkit of French literary analysis

French criticism keeps two pairs apart. Who tells the story (le narrateur) is not who wrote it (l'auteur). What happens (l'intrigue) is not how it's told (le récit). Keeping these straight is the first thing a C1 examiner looks for.

• 🔊Le narrateur est un vieil instituteur.The narrator is an old schoolteacher.
• 🔊Le récit commence par la fin de l'intrigue.The narrative begins with the end of the plot.

Who sees? Who speaks?

Point de vue (or focalisation) is about whose eyes we see through. With focalisation interne we only know what one character perceives; with focalisation zéro (or omnisciente) the narrator sees into everyone's head. A child's point of view, for instance, lets an author show what the child doesn't yet understand.

• 🔊Le récit adopte le point de vue d'un enfant.The narrative takes a child's point of view.
• 🔊Le narrateur omniscient connaît les pensées de tous.The omniscient narrator knows everyone's thoughts.

Spot it, then say what it does

In a French commentaire, naming a figure of speech earns nothing on its own. Always add its effect: the metaphor « souligne », the irony « dénonce », the hyperbole « dramatise ». Note the false friend: a comparaison with comme is an English simile.

• 🔊La métaphore de la fournaise souligne l'étouffement du personnage.The furnace metaphor stresses the character's suffocation.
• 🔊Il était fort comme un baobab.He was as strong as a baobab. (simile)

Irony, euphemism, oxymoron

Irony says the opposite of what it means. A euphemism softens something painful or taboo. An oxymoron joins two opposites to create a striking image. A champ lexical is not a figure, but a network of words on one theme that gives a passage its colour.

• 🔊« Cette obscure clarté qui tombe des étoiles » (Corneille)« This dark brightness falling from the stars » (an oxymoron)
• 🔊Il a rendu l'âme.He gave up the ghost. (a euphemism for he died)

A tense for reading, not speaking

The passé simple is the past tense of novels, tales and history books. In conversation it's replaced by the passé composé. You don't need to produce it, but you must recognise it at once, mostly in the il / elle and ils / elles forms. The most common verbs are irregular, so learn them as shapes.

• 🔊Il entra, s'assit et attendit.He came in, sat down and waited.
• 🔊Ce fut un hiver terrible.It was a terrible winter.

-er verbs and the -rent ending

Regular -er verbs end in -a for il / elle (il regarda, elle chanta) and -èrent for ils / elles (ils marchèrent). Most other verbs end in -it / -irent (il finit, ils prirent), -ut / -urent (il but, ils voulurent) or -int / -inrent (il vint, ils tinrent). In a story, an ils / elles form in -èrent, -irent, -urent or -inrent is usually passé simple, but watch for present-tense look-alikes such as ils préfèrent, ils admirent or ils pleurent.

• 🔊Elle regarda la mer.She looked at the sea.
• 🔊Ils marchèrent jusqu'au village.They walked as far as the village.

Four short extracts

The passages in this lesson were written for this course in the manner of four authors: Maupassant's ironic Normandy tales, Camara Laye's childhood memories of Guinea, Mariama Bâ's novel in letters, and Camus's flat, sunlit prose. For each one, ask: what's the tone, what does it make us see, and what does it say beyond the story?

Offer readings, don't impose them

A strong commentary suggests rather than asserts. On peut y voir…, ce passage se lit comme…, cela suggère… leave room for other readings, and examiners reward that nuance. Finish by stating the portée: what the passage says about society, memory or the human condition.

• 🔊On peut y voir une critique de l'hypocrisie bourgeoise.One can read it as a critique of bourgeois hypocrisy.
• 🔊La portée de ce texte dépasse le cadre du village.The significance of this text goes beyond the village.

Scene: a book club in Abidjan

Sofia, whose family is from Martinique, has just moved to Abidjan and joins a book club in Cocody. Tonight the host, Aya, reads aloud from a short story written in the manner of Maupassant, then the group argues about it. Join in.