In Le clair-obscur « extrême contemporain »: Pierre Bergounioux, Pierre Michon, Patrick Modiano et Pascal Quignard Julia Holter proposes that a chiaroscuro aesthetic and mode of thought underlie and unite the work of four well-known contemporary French writers, studied together for the first time. Chiaroscuro, the bold or delicate contrast between light and shadow, is treated as a visual metaphor that evokes the tension between the senses and reason, in which the latter must take into account the former in order to temper its own totalitarian and conservative tendencies. Julia Holterâs Contemporary chiaroscuro links a technique from classical art with a present-day search for a small light as a way of surviving in our violently overlit society.
"This is an impressive book. It is full of sensitive readings, rigorously argued and the product of great erudition, effortlessly ranging over a wide variety of subject areas. Quite apart from her detailed knowledge of her selected writersâ oeuvres and associated secondary literature, Holter extends her scope to disciplines such as Fine Art (the centrality of chiaroscuro oblige), literary theory, sociology, etymology, philosophy and psychoanalysis, travelling backwards and forwards with ease between lâextrême contemporain and Antiquity. [...] its academic impact may [...] be considerable, since the very nature of Holterâs innovative, self-created concept means that it will have a broader, more universal application to the French literature of today."
- Alan Morris, Irish Journal of French Studies, 2017.
All interested in contemporary French literature and in the correlation between visual arts and literature; specialists, post-graduate students, academic libraries.