It is perhaps hard being a ‘prophet’ in your own time and country—unless you are French. James Baldwin found support for his literature and his sexuality in ’60s Paris that he did not find in the US; Marjane Satrapi’s graphic novel Persepolis (2000), a coming-of-age story of an Iranian girl, would not have seen the light of day in Iran; it was first published in French.
Joseph Andras’ Tomorrow They Won’t Dare To Murder Us (2016), is a highly critical record of French icons and France’s record of colonialism in Algeria, but was still awarded the country’s highest literary honour, the Prix Goncourt.
France has indeed been both the crucible and the launchpad of some of the world’s most radical politics and avant-garde literature but the French have a crib—when it comes to buying French literature, readers keep going back to the classics. To bring awareness of contemporary French books not yet considered modern classics outside of France and award circuits, Alliance Française de Delhi has started the ‘Pardon My French!’ programme. It features 15 iconic French books from the 21st century with a display of the covers of their foreign translations, and an experimental space celebrating the act of reading.
‘Pardon My French!’ held recently at the Galerie Romain Rolland, Alliance Française, was moderated by Gregor Trumel, the new director of the French Institute in India, Julia Trouilloud, the Attaché for Books at the institute, and Patricia Loison, director, Alliance Française Delhi. “Our literary cooperation spans across sectors, to include support to publishers, training provided to literary translators, and mobility opportunities for professionals interested in discovering the French book market,” said Trumel.
Trouilloud said they have plans to launch a ‘Re-imagine a Book Cover’ programme among design-school students in India to create a buzz around French literature.
To mark the launch of the programme nationally, the French Institute in India and the Alliance Française, Delhi, also offer a week-long celebration of all things literary, where books ‘take over’ the Galerie Romain Rolland to create an immersive, extravagant space dedicated to elevating the reader experience, with innovative literary events taking place every evening. The opening night of September 20 had the Lebanese graphic novelist Zeina Abirached joining in for a reading from her book The Prophet set to the musical interpretations of Dhruv Sangari and Rachit Sharma.
Ajay Jain, founder of Kunzum Bookstores, Delhi, and Mohit Batra, CEO, Rajat Book Corner, Jaipur, who are part of the network of bookshop entrepreneurs where the 15 books will be made available beyond the ‘Pardon My French!’ programme, also addressed the gathering.
The 15 books being spotlighted at the Galerie Romain Rolland bookshelves—which of course stocks classics such as Marcel Proust’s In Search of Lost Time and Frantz Fanon’s Black Skin, White Masks and quite a few Balzacs and Kunderas —and at Kunzum in Delhi are the following: the 2022 Nobel Prize winner Annie Ernaux’s The Years, The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery, Atomised by Michel Houellebecq, At Night all Blood is Black by David Diop, Press Here by Hervé Tullet, Capital in the 21st Century by Thomas Piketty, Happy People Read and Drink Coffee by Agnès Martin-Lugand, The End of Eddy by Edouard Louis, Mend The Living by Maylis de Kerangal, Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi, The Reunion by Guillaume Musso, The Gospel According to the New World by Maryse Condé, Consent by Vanessa Springora, And the Stones Cry Out by Clara Dupont-Monod, and Sad Tiger by Neige Sinno. Me? I was quite chuffed with my two-book haul and a white canvas bag with Proust looking out from it.
At Galerie Romain Rolland, Lodhi Estate, till Sept 29, 11 am to 7 pm