J. M. G. Le Clézio
French Mauritian author
Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clézio has won many literary prizes, in 2008 he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. He has published more than 40 works written in French. These include novels, short stories, essays and children’s books. Many have been translated into English and other languages.
Jean-Marie Le Clézio was born on 13 April 1940 in Nice on the French Riviera. His ancestors were from Brittany in France but in 1789 they left to settle in Mauritius in the Indian Ocean. J.M.G Le Clézio has dual nationality, he describes himself as being both French and Mauritian.
At the time of his birth his father was in Nigeria serving in the British army as a medical officer. At the age of eight Le Clézio, his mother and brother went to join his father in Nigeria who was working in a small village in the South East of Nigeria. Le Clézio later returned to France to complete his education. He went to university in the South of France. He lived in England for a few years, he studied at the University of Bristol and briefly taught French in school near Bath. He then went to teach in the USA.
When he was called up for military service in 1967 he was sent to Thailand with the French army. He was expelled from Thailand for protesting against child prostitution, the French military sent him to Mexico to complete his military service there.
J.M.G. Le Clézio has lived in France, Panama, Mexico, the USA, the UK, Nigeria and Mauritius. He has travelled in South America and Africa. He has taught in universities in many countries, he regularly teaches in South Korea. He speaks French, English, Spanish and Emberá, a language he learned when he lived with Embera-Wounaan people in Panama.
His family history and his own travels have influenced his writing. In an interview after being awarded the Nobel Prize he was described as a traveller, citizen of the world, a nomad.
Le Clézio has a love of words. His work has been described as getting to the heart of what it is to be a human being. He says what interests him the most is ordinary people and he talks of life being a precious thing, a precious beauty. He believes literature can have a positive influence. He believes that novels and poems can influence young people and those in power.
J.M.G. Le Clézio is married and has three daughters. His wife Jémia is Moroccan. They divide their time between Albuquerque New Mexico, Nice, France and Mauritius.
Questions
Students will need to search for information on the net to answer these questions, some are cross curricular touching on History and Citizenship.
1. What event led to J.M.G. Le Clézio’s family leaving France to settle in Mauritius in 1789?
2. Why might his family have chosen to move to Mauritius?
3. J.M.G. Le Clézio’s family are of French origin but has father was a British Citizen and serving in the British army. J.M.G. Le Clézio himself has French and Mauritian citizenship and had the possibility of British citizenship. Can you explain this connection between British, French and Mauritian citizenship?
4. When J.M.G. Le Clézio was born in Nice in 1940 what was the political regime at that time in France and why might it have been difficult for his father to be there with his mother?
5. He has dual nationality, why do you think some people think this could be a problem? List examples of other well known people who have connections with more than one country?
6. How old was he when he won his first literary award, what was the title of the book, which other major awards has he won?
7. What was the reaction of some of the media in the English speaking world when he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2008? Why did English speakers react in this way?
8. What is military service, did the UK also have military service? What do you think about military service?
9. What do you think motivates and influences J.M.G. Le Clézio to write? What are some of his values? Quote evidence in your answer.
10. What is a common theme in many of his books? Give examples in your answer.
11. How many authors writing in English have won Nobel Prizes for Literature, how many have been British, how many have been women? Comment on what you find, you may find it interesting to map which parts of the world they come from.
Notes on possible ways to use this resource
Students do not need to answer all the questions, they could be divided up between students. Answers could be presented orally and be a starting points for discussions. Some answers could be presented in the form of small displays with pictures. Some of the questions are simpler than others. This is not an exhaustive list and school will be best placed to judge how this resource could fit into their schemes of work.
MFL
Can be used as homework, will make cross curricular links with Citizenship, Geography and History.
· Promotes the understanding of the Francophone world.
· Could lead to identifying all the Francophone countries and students finding information about notable figures from those countries and writing brief biographies – possibly in French in the form of bullet points.
· Students could list of Nobel Prize winners from Francophone countries.
· Helps promote positive attitudes to bilingualism, presents it as a norm
· Can lead to a discussion on Anglo centrism. The reaction of some of the American and English press when he was awarded the prize was ‘Who?’, behind this lies an idea that if works are not known in the Anglophone world they have less validity - yet only 25% of the world speaks English (less than 25% probably regularly read and write in English).
· School could purchase one of his children’s books in French and examine it to see if it reflects his background
· Look at the French Revolution and its effects on French colonies
· Explore other Francophone figures which dual nationalities or multiple heritages – Alexandra Dumas, Nicolas Sarkozy, Safia Otokoré, …
· Explore other famous Mauritians
· Mauritius is a multilingual society with French, English and Creole being the major languages – a brief exploration of the languages of the island will further add to the notion of bilingualisms as being a norm for much of the world
· Explore the physical and human geography of Mauritius. Groups of students are given task of exploring climate, rivers, mountains, coastline neighboring islands, population including diverse groups, principal products, industry, tourism – students present information in French.
Citizenship
Schools have a duty under the Equality act to promote good relations (social cohesion under the previous act) which includes promoting race equality and tackling racism. This resource presents opportunities to do this
· Often dual citizenship or having multiple heritages is presented in a problematic way – as if there will inherently be an internal struggle or identity conflict about allegiance – for Le Clézio his dual citizenship is a source of richness, you could have discussions on this topic including examining the positive consequences of cultures meeting – creating new and stimulating hybrids…You could look at students own identities – even in a school with a majority White British student population you will find students with connections to different parts of the United Kingdom and many with connections further a field. Some students will have relations settled overseas and some married to overseas citizens or in inter-racial marriages. An examination of surnames often shows distant overseas origins.
· When J.M.G. Le Clézio was awarded the Nobel Prize there was a strong reaction by some commentators in the English speaking world. There was an assumption that because he was not well known in the US and UK his work was unlikely to merit such a prize. There could be a very fruitful discussion about music, literature, art from other parts of the world that has great validity and beauty but is totally unknown here. It is for example possible to be a talented music star in China, sell far more CDs than any UK or USA artists and be totally unknown here.
· Mauritius has a very diverse population with African, Indian and European origin populations along with many other smaller groups (e.g. Arab, Chinese, Malay) it is an interesting model of a diverse society which is currently relatively economically successful though there are wealth and power disparities
History
· J.M.G. Le Clézio’s ancestors moved from France to Mauritius as a result of the French Revolution, explore the effect of the revolution on the French colonies. Haiti accounted for half of overseas revenue for France at the time of the revolution, the various revolutionary groups had different attitudes to the colonies and the abolition of slavery, Guadeloupe has a long settled population of white people of French aristocratic origin who escaped there from the revolution. Slavery was abolished then reinstated in some of the colonies during the upheavals at the time of the revolution.
· WW II and the position of France’s colonies in the war – possibly used as cross curricular homework topic for those studying French
· Decolonisation – Mauritius changed hands during the colonial period and when it decolonised it was a British colony. Previously people had citizenship of the British Empire, at independence they could choose British or Mauritian citizenship. Mauritius has a very diverse population with people from the Indian subcontinent, Europe, Africa among many others. The history of the island is rich and interesting.
Geography
· Identify and colour in Francophone countries, for a colourful display could also printout their flags – look at other languages spoken, principal industries and products – could do similar with English speaking nations countries and compare – how many are neighbours
· Examine the post colonial economic success of Mauritius – what did Mauritius do to make it a successful economy?
English
· Can be used for homework when studying non-fiction and biographical writing
· Issues of identity, belonging, multiple heritage and the impact on a person’s writing can be explored. Joseph Conrad, one of the great British novelists, was born in Poland, his writing in English is seen as having been influenced both by Polish culture and language.
· Could be used as starting point for discussion around the initial reaction in the Anglophone world on his being awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. The reaction among some commentators reflected a view that if his work has not appeared in English he cannot be that important a writer, a strong Anglo centric perspective.
· Could be used as a starting point to explore writers and artists from Mauritius of the Commonwealth.
Photos by kind permission of Atlantic Books Photographer: Helie Gallimard
Dominique Moore EMTAS 2010