The Memory In L'Horizon Of Patrick Modiano

Memory is an essential theme in the novels of Patrick Modiano,one of the most famous French contemporary writers.In 2014,Modiano won the Nobel Prize for Literature because of his unique art of writing memory.It can be seen that Modiano's writing and description of the memory possess a very personal artistic characteristic.L'Horizon is one of the masterpieces of Modiano.In reading the title of this work,we get a glimpse of a memory that can remind us of the distant places.The aim of this thematic study is to investigate the importance of the memory in Modiano's works and the characteristics of this memory.In order to better analyze this novel,we will employ the theory of thematic criticism and psychoanalysis which can help us classify the memory and interpret the inner world of the protagonist.This thesis is divided into three chapters.In the first chapter,we will focus on exploring the forgettable characteristics of memory by analyzing the fuzzy and fragmented memory in this novel.We will also explore the roots of the traumatic memory at two levels:the social background and the individual experiences,and the constantly escaping state of existence in order to forget the traumatic memory.In the second chapter we will focus on the reconstruction of the memory.Because of this conscious escape,oblivion and the emptiness caused by the absence of memory,the characters are more inclined to reconstruct a memory and rebuild a self through an imaginative world.In the third chapter,by means of the contrast of this real trauma memory and the reconstructed imaginative world,we will emphasize Modiano's poetic,metaphorical and mysterious narrative art in the novel.