As part of its "Dates" collection, the Crossroad publishing house has recently released "Understanding the 'Nouveau Roman': Study, Texts, and Interview," a new book by Moroccan writer Ahmed al-Madini.
The 166-page book is composed of two parts providing a detailed and accurate reading of one of the most prestigious literary schools in the 20th century, known as the "Nouveau Roman" (Modern Novel) school that emerged in France in the late 1940s.
This school expanded and progressed to become a unique narrative style adopted by many major French figures such as Nathalie Sarraute, Claude Simon and Michel Butor.
According to the book, the "Nouveau Roman" School influenced many writers, and has never been dominated by another school given the depth of its views, authenticity of its art, and its expression of the era.
Madini sees that Alain Robbe-Grillet and Marguerite Duras, despite their different writing styles, are the top representatives of this school, mostly Grillet, who is considered one of its theoreticians.
The book features "an explanation of the school's rules, texts of writers who belonged to it, and an interview with Grillet aimed at providing writers with the original resources of this experience and the beauty of its expressions." It also includes an introduction about Duras and one of her works, in which she speaks about the Nouveau Roman.
