The Collective Memory Revived By The Works Of Nemirovsky

In China, the translation of Nemirovsky’s works began with the translation of Suite francaise. With this posthumously published masterpiece, Irene Nemirovsky came into the vision of Chinese readers. By resurrecting history, Suite, frangaise presents the living conditions of French in the early years of World War II and offers research sources on civil French during this period. But if we turn to all her works, we can find an abundant literary wealth:apart from Suite francaise which obviously has a historical value, she has also written many novels which had great success in her time. In her first literary attempts, there is a Jewish world-the overwhelming Jewish life is strongly presented in these books. As a Jewish immigrant herself, Irene Nemirovsky offers research sources for studying this social group.Our work is about the collective memory revived by the works of Nemirovsky. This collective memory can be generally divided into two parts:the collective memory of Jewish immigrants of her time and that of the French at the beginning of the Second World War. These two groups are the most representative in her works and deserve to be studied repeatedly.The present work is divided into three chapters, with an introduction and a conclusion. Our study is mainly based on the theory of collective memory developed by Maurice Halbwachs. For textual analysis, we choose the four novels which are most representative for the base of the reconstruction of the collective memory:David Golder, Les Chiens et les Loups, Le Vin de solitude and Suite francaise.The first chapter will begin with the introduction of the concept of collective memory, and then we’ll try to enter the contents of the collective memory in works of Nemirovsky, which consist of two parts:the collective memory of Jewish immigrants and the collective memory of French. The second chapter will emphasize the discussion of the historical role of this collective memory:it is both an introspection of the Jewish situation and retrospection of the Second World War. The last chapter will be devoted to the art of reconstructing the collective memory. In this chapter, we will analyze first of all the reconstruction of the social environment in the works of Nemirovsky, which will include the warlike atmosphere, typical characters and religious elements; then we’ll discuss how to rebuild the individual memory which is essential for the reconstruction of collective memory. The childhood memory and the adult memory will be the deux perspectives which are essential in the individual memory.By analyzing the collective memory revived by Nemirovsky, we discuss indeed the nature of Nemirovsky’s writing which could be divided into two phases: individual writing mixed with personal feelings and universal writing that always keeps an indifferent and objective attitude. Nemirovsky’s writing is fixed on the same subject:the struggle of man against his fate. The Jewish immigrants fought against their cursed fate, hoping to conquer their Jewish terror of death and live better while the French, by this or that way, fought against their fate during the war, wishing to survive.As for Nemirovsky, the literature is just like a remedy for life. Reading in her youth filled her loneliness of his childhood. Therefore, through literary creation, she has finally found her true spiritual home and acquired internal peace.By detailed textual analysis of Nemirovsky’s works, we can find a collectif memory with a value both social and historical. Her works could help us have a better understanding of the historical events in a particular period.