This first systematic study of the controversial Austrian feminist writer, Elfriede Jelinek, offers an extensive survey and analysis of Jelinek's major texts and a discussion of the literary techniques which characterise her writing. Background contextual information on historical and literary developments is provided to help the reader gain a better understanding of Jelinek's writing and her place within current international debates on feminism and literary theory.

Winner of some of France's most prestigious literary prizes, Patrick Modiano is considered one of the most fascinating French novelists alive today. This is the first English literary critique of this best-selling French author, whose works are found increasingly in translation throughout the world and who is attracting considerable critical attention outside France.

In this lucid study, Alan Morris explores Modiano's fifteen major novels. He also traces Modiano's development as a writer and the tragedies which have influenced his works: the death of his younger brother, the neglect...

In this timely new study, Catherine Davies provides a critical analysis of post-Franco Spain's most successful women novelists. Delving first into the development of feminism and women's writing and its critical reception in Spain since 1970, the author then focuses on two of the most popular and influential feminist novelists: Barcelona's Montserrat Roig (1946-1991) and Madrid's Rosa Montero (b. 1951). These writers' works share woman-centered themes such as family relationships, the search for self-fulfillment in a restrictive society, and the hope for the construction of a new world...

Winner of some of France's most prestigious literary prizes, Patrick Modiano is considered one of the most fascinating French novelists alive today. This is the first English literary critique of this best-selling French author, whose works are found increasingly in translation throughout the world and who is attracting considerable critical attention outside France.

In this lucid study, Alan Morris explores Modiano's fifteen major novels. He also traces Modiano's development as a writer and the tragedies which have influenced his works: the death of his younger brother, the neglect...

The award-winning novels of Annie Ernaux are controversial, innovative, and address the topical issues of gender and social class. Surprisingly, there has been no major study of her work, despite the fact that it is increasingly taught and has been widely translated. This book fills that gap by presenting Ernaux's work through a range of readings: those of the author herself, those of academics, of reviewers and of 'ordinary' readers. Ernaux's own curiosity about the relationship between writing and the reality she is describing leads her to adopt a self-reflective approach to the...

This first systematic study of the controversial Austrian feminist writer, Elfriede Jelinek, offers an extensive survey and analysis of Jelinek's major texts and a discussion of the literary techniques which characterise her writing. Background contextual information on historical and literary developments is provided to help the reader gain a better understanding of Jelinek's writing and her place within current international debates on feminism and literary theory.

This intriguing book provides a up-to-date introduction to the works of Michel Tournier, arguably the most internationally influential French novelist of the last 25 years. His novels have been widely translated and have often provoked controversy and incurred charges of perversion. This study examines the nature of the attack which Tournier mounts on many of the norms and assumptions of Western culture and his often startling reinterpretation of the mythologies which have nourished and sustained it. His critical review of contemporary culture places him in a radical tradition of French...