SHORT STORIES

By: Joanna Szewczak and

Nikki Boggs

THE DEVELOPMENT OF FRENCH SHORT STOREIS

1456 – an anonmous collection of short pieces of fiction published under the title Les Cent Nouvelles Nouvelles (A Hundred Short Stories) appeared.

17th Century – short stories were not so short, rather long and complex.

In 17th and 18th centuries the genre included the fairy tale and stories based on animals Conte : storytelling Nouvelle : story about a recent event

By 1900, almost all French adults were literate and with the help of the printing press the number of books published rose from 2,000 copies per year to 15,000 copies per year.

TIME LINE CONTINUED… The first half of the 20th Century was described

as the “thin era” for the short story. While the second half witnessed some exciting

developments Camus’s Exile and the Kingdom marked a high point The decision to attribute prizes to the short story

marked a significant gain in status for the short story

Wider range of genres, including, the erotic short story, the detective fiction short story, the science fiction short story, etc.

The most striking development is the way short stories writing has opened up to women

Major changes when the short story draws different voices, attracting new readers. Herve Guibert gained iconic status in France when

he wrote about AIDS

TWO MOST FAMOUS PRACTITIONERS

Prosper Mérimée Guy de Maupassant

•Pioneer and expert of elegant ambiguity•Published only 18 stories•Considers ‘The Venus of Ille’ (1837) to be his masterpiece

•Master of form•Wrote 300 stories•Exposes the shortcomings & weaknesses of human beings

SHORT STORY FORMAT At first, very enormous in length 20th Century Writer, Andre Gide, thought the

short story should be able to be read in a single sitting (1 hour)

Should create an intensity of effect on the reader Challenge to writer to set up a situation and

resolver it, bring characters to life and let them go in a matter of pages.

Creates a surprise effect at the very last moment, causing reader to reconsider what previously occurred

Reader is either aware of where the writer is headed in the story or left to use their imagination

Anna Gavalda D.O.B. December 9,1970

Boulogne-Billancourt, Hauts-de-Seine, France

French high school teacher and award-winning novelist

Divorced mother of two Louis (1996) Félicité (1999)

Currently lives in the small city of Melun, Seine-et-Marne (just outside of Paris)

History as a writer Her first short stories published in 1999

("Je voudrais que quelqu'un m'attende quelque part’’)o 2003: I Wish Someone Were Waiting for Me

Somewhere Courting Rituals of the Saint-Germain-des-Prés

Real life, modern situation, imagery Pregnant

Emotional, unexpected ending

o Winner of the 2000 Grand Prix RTL-Lire (Académie Francaise Short Story Award)

o International Bestseller

History continued… Novels:

2002: Someone I Loved (Je l'aimais) > Inspired by the failure of her own marriage

-International Bestseller -currently in the works of being filmed

< 2002: 95 lbs. Of Hope (35 kilos d’espoir)

- "to pay tribute to those of my students who were dunces in school, but otherwise fantastic people".

History continued…

Novels continued: 2004: Hunting and Gathering (“Ensemble, c'est tout”)

made into a movie in 2007

Additional Writing Writes for the French edition of ELLE magazine

Anna’s Success

Stories have been translated into 36 different languages and distributed throughout several countries

Sold over 3 million copies of her three novels in France alone (2007)

Best-selling author Widely looked upon as one

of France’s newest scholarly stars!

^ Anna in her workspace ^

Discussion

How does Anna’s writing style differ from the other authors of short stories?

In both stories, did Anna’s writing style lead you to believe the story would end differently?

Why do you think Anna refers to the woman in the story “Pregnant” in the third person?

Did you feel any empathy for the characters in Anna’s stories? Explain.

Do you prefer Anna’s short stories or those from The Oxford Book of Short Stories? Why?