French Literature Reviews - 2026
A. Palud, La contagion des imaginaires
Novel and Narrative Prose
Aurélie Palud,
La contagion des imaginaires,
Presses universitaires de Rennes, "Interférences" series, 2020.
EAN13: 9782753579880.
Book published with the support of University Rennes 2.
Review published in Acta Fabula: Francesca Cassinadri, Epidemic Narrative, Allegorical Narrative: A Camusian Heritage
Why do contemporary novels depict epidemics that have been virtually eradicated in the West (plague, cholera, smallpox, diphtheria)? How should these epidemic narratives be read? What do they reveal about the late 20th century? This study re-evaluates Camus's The Plague: its reinscription within an "epidemic library" highlights its foundational role on both ethical and aesthetic levels. To varying degrees, epidemic narratives by Gabriel García Márquez, José Saramago, André Brink, Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clézio, and Stewart O'Nan resonate with the 1947 novel.
Aurélie Palud examines why contemporary novelists continue to depict epidemics like plague, cholera, and smallpox that have been virtually eradicated in the West. Focusing on the late twentieth century, the study investigates how these fictional narratives function allegorically and what they reveal about modern anxieties. By tracing a shared imaginative framework across diverse cultural landscapes, the volume offers a comprehensive perspective on how literature engages with collective crises, contagion, and historical trauma.
A central focus of the book is Albert Camus's 1947 masterpiece The Plague, which Palud positions as a foundational text establishing a modern epidemic library. The study demonstrates how works by prominent authors such as Gabriel García Márquez, José Saramago, André Brink, Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clézio, and Stewart O'Nan echo and reinvent Camus's ethical and aesthetic legacy. This comparative approach appeals to scholars of narrative fiction, literary theory, and twentieth-century literature interested in the enduring cultural significance of outbreak narratives.