{"id":3759,"date":"2011-02-16T23:29:10","date_gmt":"2011-02-16T23:29:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/?p=3759"},"modified":"2017-10-19T13:01:10","modified_gmt":"2017-10-19T11:01:10","slug":"une-grande-romanciere-mere-et-grand-mere-a-grand-author-mother-and-grandmother","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/une-grande-romanciere-mere-et-grand-mere-a-grand-author-mother-and-grandmother\/","title":{"rendered":"Une grande romanci\u00e8re, m\u00e8re et grand-m\u00e8re"},"content":{"rendered":"

As the national attention of her\u00a0pays natal <\/strong><\/em>(native country), l’\u00c9gypte<\/strong><\/em>, was overwhelmingly occupied by the stunning popular uprisal qui battait son plein<\/strong><\/em>(at its height) just a few days ago, the disappearance from this world\u00a0of l’enfant du pays<\/strong><\/em>(the native child, or literally “the child of the country”) -who was also of Lebanese <\/strong>extraction and later became\u00a0French,<\/strong> par adoption<\/em><\/strong>– went by almost completely inaper\u00e7ue<\/em><\/strong> (unnoticed)…\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

* * *<\/p>\n

Born into une famille libanaise<\/strong><\/em>(a Lebanese family)\u00a0who resided then in le Caire <\/strong><\/em>(Cairo),\u00a0the capital of “la m\u00e8re du monde<\/strong><\/em>“, <\/strong>or “the Mother of the World<\/strong>“, which is how Egyptians famously nickname their country, future author and mother Andr\u00e9e<\/strong> was to eventually settle in France <\/strong>in the aftermath of WWII<\/strong>, after spending half of the wartime in\u00a0le Liban<\/strong><\/em>(Lebanon.)\u00a0Soon enough, la jeune adolescente<\/strong><\/em>(the young teenager) emerged to adulthood as a prolific author, venturing in more than one literary\u00a0genre<\/strong><\/em>: Essays, prose, poetry, drama, and even la litt\u00e9rature d’enfance et de jeunesse<\/strong><\/em>(children’s literature.)<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=brryinI4J2w<\/a><\/p>\n

A short portrait of Madame Chedid, accompanied by her famous son Louis Chedid<\/a> and even more famous grandson, the seven-times winner of les Victoires de la Musique<\/a>, <\/em>singer and “rock star”\u00a0Matthieu ‘-M-‘ Chedid<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

* * *<\/strong><\/p>\n

Her rich identity as une\u00a0femme\u00a0arabe<\/em><\/strong>(an Arab woman), une chr\u00e9<\/em>tienne<\/em><\/strong> (a Christian woman), and une\u00a0francophone<\/em><\/strong>, finds a wide and profound r\u00e9flexion <\/em><\/strong>in her literary works, which are translated today in nine languages around the world.<\/p>\n

When she won\u00a0le Goncourt<\/strong><\/em>of poetry a few years ago, it was by no means a new accomplishment\u00a0for this\u00a0grande dame<\/strong><\/em>. More than 30 years ago, she had already won le Prix Goncourt de la Nouvelle<\/em>. <\/strong>In fact, that\u00a0prize was known back then as “<\/strong>la Bourse” Goncourt de la Nouvelle<\/em><\/strong>(in the “short story” category), which she won at a time when earning le Goncourt <\/em><\/strong>truly meant something in the Frenchmonde litt\u00e9<\/em>raire <\/strong><\/span>(literary world.) That is, way before\u00a0the Goncourt<\/em> morphed, as of last year, into a “Clonecourt<\/em>“, namely the special award for unabashed plagiarizing “Ra\u00eblian” clones… (See the “Houellebecq dossier<\/em>” for more details.)<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

* * *<\/strong><\/p>\n

Just as Mary N. Layoun<\/strong>, an author who wrote often about\u00a0la Gr\u00e8ce<\/em><\/strong> (Greece), rightfully pointed out in\u00a0her study “The Sixth Day of Compassion<\/em><\/strong>“, devoted to\u00a0Andr\u00e9e Chedid<\/strong>‘s novel “le sixieme jour<\/em><\/strong>” (“The Sixth Day”)<\/a>, the wise influence of Platon <\/strong><\/em>(Plato) is readily perceptible, and lies at the very heart of her works.<\/p>\n

Although Mrs. Layoun does not state it quite so explicitly in the aforementioned study, one wonders how it\u00a0would not be possible to think of the\u00a0all\u00e9gorie platonique de la caverne<\/strong><\/em>(Platonic allegory of the Cave), illuminating the true sense of our reality, the source of la lumi\u00e8re et les ombres<\/em><\/strong> (the light and the shadows), when Madame Chedid<\/strong> <\/em>pens these magnificently memorable lines (Page 85, of the Flammarion edition) through the mouth of her character, Om Hassan<\/strong>: “L’ombre, c’est la maladie du soleil, et rappelle-toi, le soleil gagne toujours. Toi, tu es mon soleil. Tu es ma vie.<\/em><\/strong>” (“The shadow is but the disease of the Sun, et remember, the Sun always triumphs. You, you’re my Sun. You’re my life.”)?<\/strong><\/p>\n


\n<\/strong><\/p>\n


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As the national attention of her\u00a0pays natal (native country), l’\u00c9gypte, was overwhelmingly occupied by the stunning popular uprisal qui battait son plein(at its height) just a few days ago, the disappearance from this world\u00a0of l’enfant du pays(the native child, or literally “the child of the country”) -who was also of Lebanese extraction and later became\u00a0French…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":49,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[3,13],"tags":[13695,12318,24386,13696,10389,12258],"class_list":["post-3759","post","type-post","status-publish","hentry","category-culture","category-vocabulary","tag-andree-chedid","tag-clone-court","tag-goncourt","tag-mathieu-chedid","tag-poesie","tag-roman"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t