La mémoire dans deux romans de Patrick Modiano : Une étude comparative

Sammanfattning: This essay examines how the concepts of memory and oblivion are manifested and expressed in two novels written by the french author and Nobel laureate Patrick Modiano. These novels are Chien de printemps (1993) and Dans le café de la jeunesse perdue (2007). For Modiano, the concepts of memory and oblivion are central to his literary production. The memory and oblivion are central to the creation and the maintaining of our human identity, our history. The memory is also a function of the language. Without a language, there will be no memory. Thus the formation of the language is important for the memory creation of the small child. The study will be based upon the theoretical work done by the french sociologist Maurice Halbwachs, followed by studies by the german egyptologist Jan Assmann and also by the german professor of literature Aleida Assmann. We will utilise the four-dimensional memory typology defined and developed by Jan and Aleida Assmann. It distinguishes the memory into four dimensions; the individual, collective, cultural and national memory. Our main goal is thus to examine and identify how the memory and the oblivion are handled, manifested and expressed in the two chosen novels.