Abstract
In Van 2440, Louis-Sébastien Mercier invents a new kind of historian who is capable not only of recounting and critiquing the past, but also of embedding himself in the politics of the present to shape the trajectory of the future. To illustrate this point, I focus on three elements of the novel: the "nouveaux testamens," or the journals kept by French citizens in the future; the un-numbered section "L'éclipse de lune"; and the lengthy footnotes that divide the page, the story, and the narrator, creating the illusion of a dialogue between present and future.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 35-47 |
| Number of pages | 13 |
| Journal | French Review |
| Volume | 91 |
| Issue number | 2 |
| State | Published - Dec 1 2017 |
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All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes
- Cultural Studies
- Language and Linguistics
- Education
- Linguistics and Language
- Literature and Literary Theory
Cite this
}
Writing in reverse : Archiving the future in Mercier's Van 2440. / Rutler, Tracy Leanne.
In: French Review, Vol. 91, No. 2, 01.12.2017, p. 35-47.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
TY - JOUR
T1 - Writing in reverse
T2 - Archiving the future in Mercier's Van 2440
AU - Rutler, Tracy Leanne
PY - 2017/12/1
Y1 - 2017/12/1
N2 - In Van 2440, Louis-Sébastien Mercier invents a new kind of historian who is capable not only of recounting and critiquing the past, but also of embedding himself in the politics of the present to shape the trajectory of the future. To illustrate this point, I focus on three elements of the novel: the "nouveaux testamens," or the journals kept by French citizens in the future; the un-numbered section "L'éclipse de lune"; and the lengthy footnotes that divide the page, the story, and the narrator, creating the illusion of a dialogue between present and future.
AB - In Van 2440, Louis-Sébastien Mercier invents a new kind of historian who is capable not only of recounting and critiquing the past, but also of embedding himself in the politics of the present to shape the trajectory of the future. To illustrate this point, I focus on three elements of the novel: the "nouveaux testamens," or the journals kept by French citizens in the future; the un-numbered section "L'éclipse de lune"; and the lengthy footnotes that divide the page, the story, and the narrator, creating the illusion of a dialogue between present and future.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85071906495&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85071906495&partnerID=8YFLogxK
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85071906495
VL - 91
SP - 35
EP - 47
JO - The French Review
JF - The French Review
SN - 0016-111X
IS - 2
ER -