BIOGRAPHY NATHALIE SARRAUTE – French writer of Russian origin, Nathalie Sarraute is a figure of the Nouveau Roman. Author of “Enfance”, his unique works are opposed to traditional romantic writing.
Short biography of Nathalie Sarraute – Nathalie Sarraute, born Natalia Tcherniak is a French writer, also mother of the journalist, novelist and actress Claude Sarraute. Originally from Russia, she was born on July 18, 1900 in Ivanovo-Voznessensk. Her parents divorced when she was only two years old, and she moved to live with her mother in several large cities in Europe. She finished her law studies in Paris and became a lawyer. Fascinated by the literature of the 20th century, in particular by Marcel Proust, Nathalie Sarraute published in 1939 Tropisms, a collection of texts dealing with social conventions and complex relationships between human beings hailed by Jean-Paul Sartre. From 1940, anti-Jewish laws preventing her from practicing as a lawyer, she devoted herself fully to literature, hiding her identity.
Its success grew with the publication of Martereau at Gallimard in 1953, but it was in 1964 that Nathalie Sarraute definitively entered the restricted circle of great writers by publishing Golden Fruits, a novel which earned him the International Literature Prize. In Childhood published in 1983, it tells the story of his youth, spent between Russia and France, and his difficult relationship with his mother. Nathalie Sarraute also distinguished herself in the 1960s with her plays: The silence, THEe Lie, Isma, For a yes or a no? In all of her work, Nathalie Sarraute attaches great importance to the unspoken, to things that seem trivial and to their hidden meaning, to the little dramas of everyday life. Figure of New Novel, the author rejects the conventions of traditional romantic literature. Finishing her career in apotheosis, Nathalie Sarraute was awarded the Grand Prix national des Lettres by the Ministry of Culture in 1982. She died in Paris on October 19, 1999, without having time to complete her seventh play.
It was from 1932 that Nathalie Sarraute began to write her first texts, which were brought together in 1939 in a collection entitled Tropismes. Although the work is hailed by great writers like Max Jacob and Charles Mauron, the latter goes relatively unnoticed. However, Nathalie Sarraute already testifies to her desire to reveal the imperceptible sensations governing the complex relationships between human beings. Retired in the countryside during the Occupation, Nathalie Sarraute abandoned her legal career and this time wrote her first novels: Portrait of a stranger (1948) then Martereau (1953). In 1956, the publication of Age of suspicion definitively inscribes it in the movement of the New Roman. This is a collection of essays in which the writer criticizes the traditional conventions of the romantic novel while praising the literature of Marcel Proust, James Joyce, or even Virginia Woolf. In 1959, the novelist published The Planetarium (1959), his first great success followed in 1963 by Golden fruits for which she obtained the International Literature Prize. At the same time as writing her books, Nathalie Sarraute embarked on the composition of plays, the first of which is entitled The silence appeared in 1964. However, the author’s best-known play is For a yes or a no. Published in 1982, it demonstrates the hidden meaning of words and conversations.
In 1939, and after the refusal of several publishers, Nathalie Sarraute published her first collection of texts. The work of which she began writing in 1932 is entitled Tropisms, with reference to the scientific term designating instinctive movements of certain plants stimulated by external factors. Far from choosing this name at random, it is for Nathalie Sarraute to reveal in this book, the fleeting movements of our consciousness who secretly forge human relations. Through scenes from everyday life, clichés or commonplaces, the author explores these brief, intense and inexplicable feelings that we all feel, and which triggered by the presence or the words of others push us to act in ‘a certain way. Key work among the writings of Nathalie Sarraute, Tropisms is today considered to be the founder of the literary movement of New Roman. Completely unnoticed when it first appeared, it was not until twenty years later, when it was reissued in 1957, that the book was truly recognized by critics.
In 1983, Nathalie Sarraute published an autobiographical story entitled Childhood. In it, the author recounts memories of her first eleven years spent between France, Switzerland and Russia, until she entered sixth grade. Very original, the work is written in the form ofa dialogue between the writer and her double who by his warnings, his questions, and his scruples helps him to write the autobiography as objective as possible. Representing the author’s critical conscience, this second narrative voice helps her to overcome the traditional traps of autobiographical writing. Built from fragments of memories, images and striking situations, the work does not provide an exhaustive account of the author’s childhood. Like his very first book, Tropisms, Nathalie Sarraute is more interested in The power of words which despite their sometimes banal appearance can have serious consequences. Through this interior monologue, Nathalie Sarraute who speaks to herself and contradicts herself thus delivers an original and uncompromising autobiography. Since its publication in 1983, Childhood achieved great success with the public and even obtained the Grinzane Cavour International Prize in 1984.
Nathalie Sarraute: key dates
- July 18, 1900: Birth of Nathalie Sarraute
- Nathalie Sarraute was born under the name Natalyia Tcherniak on July 18, 1900, in Ivanovo, Russia. Coming from a wealthy family, the writer soon left Russia for France. After studying law and being struck off the bar in 1941 following anti-Jewish laws, Nathalie Sarraute devoted herself entirely to literature.
- October 19, 1999: Death of Nathalie Sarraute
- Nathalie Sarraute died in Paris on October 19, 1999. A major figure in the Nouveau Roman, she notably wrote Tropisms (1939), Golden Fruits (1963), The Planetarium (1959), Childhood (1983) or even plays like For a yes or a no (1982).
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