Ma mère avait grimacé, c'est difficile de consentir à un art qui n'en soit pas un, avait-elle poursuivi.
Laure Gouraige, The book is not printed, POL, 2024.
My mother grimaced. "It's difficult to agree with art that isn't art," she continued.
The philosopher and literary scholar Laure Gouraige (born 1988) published her third novel this year. The book is not printed (2024) published at POL.
In La Fille du père In 2020, she recounted her experiences as the daughter of a French mother and a Haitian father, describing her entanglement with her father and her attempt, on her thirtieth birthday, to break free from it, to uncover her difficult childhood, and to leave behind her own emotional dependence on this omnipresent figure. Thus, even at this early stage, writing was an attempt to liberate herself and to find her own position in a complex and ambivalent mixture of declaration of love and indictment.
Gouraige's second, more widely acclaimed novel Les Idées noires (2022) explores questions of ethnic identity and cultural-social positioning from the perspective of the protagonist, a translator from German living in Paris. Here, too, the author employs humorous writing techniques to address the shifts in the protagonist's contradictory self-understanding: In an interview, she was asked to recount her experiences of discrimination as a Black woman. The novel playfully and critically examines stereotypes, but also illuminates the constructive role these labels play in shaping her social identity.
For the most recent or planned novel The book I didn't write The narrator chooses a decidedly cheerful register:
Je nommais le document, The book is not printed, car ce livre je ne l'avais pas encore écrit. The first stage consists of a summary of the three directions: gai, léger et drôle – the order is without importance. Gai semblait facilement appréhensible. A fin heureuse, a déroulement qui porte en lui-même la réalization de all les espoirs. Léger, j'étais précautionneuse with cet adjectif. The difficulty of maintenir la légèreté d'un bout à l'autre, j'avais gribouillé la veille au soir, le monde s'effondre. Drôle s'inscrivait sur une other échelle. Par un accord informal, je convenais de pouvoir me passer d'être drôle, si je parvenais à la gaieté et à la légèreté. You receive a message from Raphaël to announce your intentions. Nous nous étions accordés sur les conditions de réussite: all sentiment melancolique à bannir, all forme d'accablement à la poubelle. Je m'étais trouvée remarkquablement courageuse d'avoir formulé ce serment pendant que l'Afghanistan partait en fumée.
Laure Gouraige, The book is not printed, POL, 2024.
I called the document The book I didn't write, because I hadn't written this book yet. The first step was to recap the three main directions: cheerful, light, and funny—the order was unimportant. Cheerful seemed easy to grasp. A happy ending, a plot that holds the fulfillment of all hopes. Light—I was cautious with this adjective. It would be difficult to maintain the lightness from one end to the other; I had scribbled down the evening before, The world is collapsingBeing funny was on a different scale. In an informal agreement, I had agreed that I could forgo being funny if I achieved cheerfulness and lightness. I had sent Raphael a message outlining my intentions. We had agreed on the conditions for success: all melancholic feelings were to be banished, all forms of overwhelm consigned to the trash. I found it remarkably brave of me to make this vow while Afghanistan was going up in flames.
Although the narrator, protagonist, and author Gaia can leave behind the world politics, concretely embodied by Afghanistan, her father constantly pesters her with intellectual digressions on Joyce and Hegel, while her mother bothers her in a different way with late-night phone calls and unsolicited advice. Gaia seeks inspiration in her work as a fashion journalist, where she ironically observes the superficiality of Fashion Week and high-society parties. But fashion, which once served as a means of expression and a vision of the future, has long since lost its appeal for Gaia, and here she slips into a general cynicism: "Because if fashion is the interpretation of the present, we're in deep shit." 1 The open, episodic, or even fragmentary style of the writing project reflects, in its encounters and snapshots, the difficulties Gaia faces in pursuing her creative path. As I read, I see a Woody Allen film unfolding before my eyes.
Cet Américain me charmait. The serveur était venu prendre notre commande, j'avais regardé furtivement la carte, avec le plus grand érieux j'avais demandé s'ils avaient un grilled cheese without fromage. Marcus avait froncé les sources, the server était resté professionnel, all nos grilled cheese You can also serve without fromage, madame. J'avais choisi le plus curieux, pousses d'épinard, tomatoes cerises, bacon mariné au whiskey, pas de fromage, merci. Source sauce, madame? Pas de sauce, malheureux. If the cheddar is immangeable, the sauces are not infamous. The serveur m'avait conseillé the bourbon qui conviendrait à mon plat. A Woodford Reserve, collection limited, embouteillée à 123.2 proof. J'avais souri naïvement. The America is effective, available in habitual places.
Un grilled cheese sans fromage?
J'aime pas le cheddar.
Tu aurais dû me le dire.
I love the pain and the bacon. Ce sont deux ingrédients sur trois.
C'est le fromage qui fait le lien.
C'est ce qu'on te fait croire. Est-ce tu as déjà mangé un grilled cheese sans fromage?
Je ne ferais jamais une chose pareille.
Donc tu ne peux pas savoir.
Dis-moi, qu'est-ce que tu écris ?
J'avais eu un haut-le-cœur. It is based on the subject. Je m'étais redressée, j'écris un mauvais roman, avais-je répondu.
Ça ne veut rien dire. Ce n'est pas à toi de décider s'il est mauvais ou pas.
Hum. J'écris une comédie.
Tu écris a mauvais roman or a comedy?
I don't know anymore.
Strange.
J'écris une comedie. A comedie pas comique. A text léger et gai, mais sans humor.
Pourquoi dire que c'est un mauvais roman?
It is complicated.
Is this a comedy without humor?
I do not know.
Ça a l'air difficile.
Oui, pourtant ça ne devrait pas. J'écris sur une existence que je n'arrive pas à vivre.
Oh, it's a feel-good project! Très Americain, comme idée.
The server is available to answer no questions asked. They Say It's Wonderful de Coltrane and Hartman passait en fond, l'instant était un peu cliché. Ça m'avait rappelé Deleuze, la page et la toile ne sont jamais blanches, elles sont bourrées de laideurs et d'abominations qui pèsent sur l'œuvre. Évidemment Deleuze l'avait formula with plus de grace ; If you see this scene, you will see Hermione in the novel of the romance, and you will have a bad time at the conventions. Pourtant, je n'étais pas un personnage de fiction, j'étais assise dans this atmosphere cotonneuse, enivrée par l'odeur du bois, bercée par le jazz, un whiskey à la main, un American au cœur. If you don't read anything, you'll have a good time. L'Américain m'avait souri de ses dents blanches, parfaitement alignedées, et mes doutes s'étaient dissipés. Je n'avais qu'à bien me tenir, m'accrocher fermement pour ne pas flancher. Les grilled cheese étaient poses between nous, the laideur suffisante pour nous extirper de la menace romantique. L'Américain n'avait eu de cesse de me faire parler de l'écriture, de mon roman, de notre époque qu'il ne trouvait pas si mal, c'était pire avant, avait-il ponctué. Je m'étais maîtrisée pour ne pas dire que son argument était fallacieux. Avant nous n'y vivions pas. These comparisons are not servaient qu'un seul but, notre contentement. Il avait poursuivi, si c'était pire avant, ça voulait dire qu'il y avait des progrès, nous devions avoir confiance dans l'avenir. J'étais interloquée, remuée à l'interieur.
Donc, toi, avais-je dit, tu trouves qu'on est pas mal ?
Yes.
It is available again with an aplomb. The availability of autour de la science qui avait fait des progrès inouïs, la médecine qui était très avancée, le taux d'alphabétisation mondial n'avait jamais été aussi élevé, j'avais décroché à l'énumération des pourcentages, dans ma tête il n'y avait que hurlements. The serveur nous avait apporté a troisième verre que j'avais bu d'une gorgee. L'Américain m'avait pris la main, c'est pas grave d'être en désaccord, on en discussion. Pour moi, c'était éreintant. My relationships with friends respond to a prince, a research inestimable de paix.
Laure Gouraige, The book is not printed, POL, 2024.
This American charmed me. The waiter had come to take our order, I had glanced at the menu and asked with utmost seriousness if it also included Grilled Cheese without cheese. Marcus frowned, the waiter remained professional, all our Grilled Cheese They can also be served without cheese, ma'am. I had opted for the most unusual one: spinach, cherry tomatoes, whiskey-cured bacon, no cheese, thank you. What sauce, madam? No sauce, you poor wretch. If the cheddar is inedible, your sauces are notorious. The waiter had recommended the perfect bourbon to accompany my dish. A Woodford Reserve, limited collection, bottled at 123,2 proof. I had smiled naively. The American was efficient; he had his ways.
A Grilled Cheese Without cheese?
I don't like cheddar.
You should have told me.
I love bread and bacon. Those are two of the three ingredients.
The cheese provides the connection.
That's what they've led you to believe. Have you ever had one? Grilled Cheese Eaten without cheese?
I would never do something like that.
So you can't know.
Tell me, what are you writing?
I had a queasy feeling in my stomach. He had stuck to his topic. I straightened up; I'm writing a bad novel.
That doesn't mean anything. It's not up to you to decide whether he's bad or not.
Um. I'm writing a comedy.
Are you writing a bad novel or a comedy?
I do not know it anymore.
Strange.
I'm writing a comedy. A non-comic comedy. A light and cheerful text, but without humor.
Why do you say it's a bad novel?
It's complicated.
What is a comedy without humor?
I dont know.
That sounds difficult.
Yes, but it shouldn't. I'm writing about an existence I can't live.
Oh, it's a feel-good project! A very American idea.
The waiter had brought our glasses. They Say It's Wonderful Coltrane and Hartman were playing in the background; the moment was a bit clichéd. It reminded me of Deleuze: the page and the canvas are never white, they are full of ugliness and abominations that weigh down the work. Of course, Deleuze had phrased it with more grace; if I had written that scene, if I had had to put Hermione to the test of romance, I would have felt sick at allowing so many conventions. Yet I was not a fictional character; I was sitting in that cottony atmosphere, intoxicated by the smell of the wood, lulled by jazz, with a whiskey in my hand and an American in my heart. I couldn't have written it; I would have been sick. The American had smiled at me with his white, perfectly aligned teeth, and my doubts had vanished. I just had to hold on tight, hold on tight, so as not to fail. Grilled Cheese They lay between us, their ugliness enough to pull us out of the romantic threat. The American had repeatedly drawn me into talking about writing, about my novel, about our times, which he didn't find so bad at all; things had been worse in the past, he'd said. I had restrained myself from saying that his argument was wrong. We didn't live there back then. These comparisons served only one purpose: to satisfy our own desires. He continued, if things had been worse in the past, that meant there had been progress, and we should have faith in the future. I was astonished and inwardly disturbed.
So, I said, you think we're not bad?
Ja
He had responded with such composure. He had gone on to talk about science, which had made incredible progress, about medicine, which had advanced so far, about the worldwide literacy rate, which had never been so high. I had tuned out during the recitation of the percentages; my mind had been filled with nothing but noise. The waiter had brought us a third glass, which I drank in one gulp. The American had taken my hand; it wasn't so bad to disagree, he said, we could discuss it. For me, it was exhausting. My friendships followed a principle, an immeasurable pursuit of peace.
This article is written in German and can be found at https://rentree.de. Automatic translations into English and French are available. English, French.
Notes- “Parce que si la mode c'est l'interpretation du temps present, on est sacrément dans la merde.”>>>
