Introduction: The French Novel Now

As many of us know to our chagrin, speculating about the “now” can be very perilous indeed, for that “now” is the most protean of terms, at once both dynamic and static, mutating into something quite different even as we struggle to come to terms with it, yet continually demanding that we account for it once and for all. In the essays included here, we have attempted to describe certain forms that the French novel takes in what passes—for the briefest of moments—as the “now.” Rather than pretending to offer a fully detailed map of what has been called the “extreme contemporary,” we have instead taken a series of soundings therein. Each is devoted to a single author, offering each contributor an opportunity to reflect in a substantive way on his or her subject.