Year: 2024
Type: article
Abstract: This article explores some of the most enigmatic aspects of Raymond Queneau’s novel “My Friend Pierrot” (1942), focusing on the unnamed crime that shapes the narrative structure as a detective story; the essence of the “Golden Age,” which serves as an object of nostalgia for the characters; the reason why Pierrot emerges as the protagonist; and the significance of the novel’s title. It is established that the “crime” refers to the arson of the Uni-Park — a metaphorical parallel to the Occupation of France from 1940 to 1944—while the “Golden Age” encompasses both the Belle Époque that preceded the First and Second World Wars and Queneau’s historical-philosophical concept of a “Golden Age.” The reason Pierrot becomes the main character lies in his archetypal and symbolic resonance within French culture and art during the Belle Époque: a favored figure among modernists, he epitomizes the artist of the New Era and embodies the French creative elite. The title of the novel alludes to a well-known French folk song that transformed into a lullaby in the 20th century: “my friend Pierrot,” where the lyrical protagonist requests a pen and candle in the name of God’s love — symbols of hope and inspiration during the Occupation. The authors also identify characteristics of Harlequin grotesque within the novel, representing a blend of sorrow and joy, high and low, creation and destruction.
Source: Nauchnyi Dialog
Authors: O. V. Tomberg, A. A. Kosareva
Institution: Ural Federal University
Language: English
Subfield: Literature and Literary Theory
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $247
OpenAlex ID: W4404818679