Research Catalog

Title

Diplomacy and the modern novel : France, Britain, and the mission of literature / edited by Isabelle Daunais and Allan Hepburn.

Publication

Toronto ; Buffalo ; London : University of Toronto Press, [2020]

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Additional Authors

• Daunais, Isabelle
• Hepburn, William Allan

Description

viii, 244 pages; 24 cm

Summary

"Between 1900 and 1960, many writers in France and Britain either had parallel careers in diplomatic corps or frequented diplomatic circles: Paul Claudel, Albert Cohen, Lawrence Durrell, Graham Greene, John le Carré, André Malraux, Nancy Mitford, Marcel Proust, and others. What attracts writers to diplomacy, and what attracts diplomats to publishing their experiences in memoirs or novels? Like novelists, diplomats are in the habit of describing situations with an eye for atmosphere, personalities, and looming crises. Yet novels about diplomats, far from putting a solemn face on everything, often devolve into comedy if not outright farce. Anachronistic yet charming, diplomats take the long view of history and social transformation, which puts them out of step with their times--at least in fiction. In this collection of essays, eleven contributors reflect on diplomacy in French and British novels, with particular focus on temporality, style, comedy, characterization, and the professional liabilities attached to representing a state abroad. With archival examples as evidence, the essays in this volume indicate that modern fiction, especially fiction about diplomacy, is a response to the increasing speed of communication, the decline of imperial power, and the ceding of old ways of negotiating to new."--

Subject

• 1900-1999
• French fiction > 20th century > History and criticism
• English fiction > 20th century > History and criticism
• Diplomacy in literature
• English fiction
• French fiction

Genre/Form

Criticism, interpretation, etc.

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references (pages [225]-236) and index.

Additional Formats (note)

• Issued also in electronic format.

Call Number

JFE 21-5187

ISBN

• 9781487508098
• 1487508093

LCCN

2020430153

OCLC

1146587201

Title

Diplomacy and the modern novel : France, Britain, and the mission of literature / edited by Isabelle Daunais and Allan Hepburn.

Publisher

Toronto ; Buffalo ; London : University of Toronto Press, [2020]

Type of Content

text

Type of Medium

unmediated

Type of Carrier

volume

Bibliography

Includes bibliographical references (pages [225]-236) and index.

Additional Formats

Issued also in electronic format.

Chronological Term

1900-1999

Added Author

Daunais, Isabelle, editor.

Hepburn, William Allan, editor.

Other Form:

Online version: Diplomacy and the modern novel. Toronto ; Buffalo ; London : University of Toronto Press, 2020 1487537549 9781487537548 (OCoLC)1150888906

Research Call Number

JFE 21-5187