Abstract

This article is an attempt at deciphering the enigmatic title of Patrick Modiano’s 2012 novel: why did he choose to call it L’Herbe des nuits, despite the book’s apparent lack of engagement with plants? In Jardins de papier, Evelyne Bloch-Dano understands the references to nature in the rest of Modiano’s œuvre as metaphors for the author’s poetics of memory and childhood. I want to argue that another interpretation is possible if we fully consider the plant physiology of grass: unlike trees, it grows from the middle and in between other crops. My article builds on this singularity to flesh out the forms of “middleness” in Modiano’s plots, writing style, and social “milieu.” Such an attention to the specific process of plant germination provides a new entry point into his works and their numerous allusions to vegetation, such as the metaphor of Occupied Paris as a soil, a manure, or an “artificial flower.” Like the narrator of Pour que tu ne te perdes pas dans le quartier, Modiano should be viewed as a “Buffon des arbres et des fleurs,” notably because of the various connections between flora and fauna throughout his texts. To sustain these hypotheses, the article engages with botanical and ecocritical writings on plants, meadows, grass and class (Rachel Bouvet, Alain Corbin, Gilles Deleuze, Francis Hallé, Denise Le Dantec, Stephanie Posthumus).

摘要

本文试图破译帕特里克·莫迪亚诺（Patrick Modiano）2012年小说的神秘标题：尽管书中显然缺乏与植物的联系，但为什么他选择将其命名为L'Herbe des nuits？在Jardins de papier，伊芙琳·布洛赫·达诺（Evelyne Bloch-Dano）将莫迪亚诺其余作品中对自然的理解理解为作者记忆和童年诗学的隐喻。我想说的是，如果我们充分考虑草的植物生理学，则可能会有另一种解释：与树木不同，草生长于其他农作物的中间和中间。我的文章建立在这种奇异性的基础上，以充实Modiano情节中的“中间性”形式，写作风格和社交“ milieu”。对植物发芽的特定过程的这种关注为他的作品及其对植物的众多典故提供了新的切入点，例如被占领的巴黎比喻为土壤，肥料或“人造花”。就像《Pour que tu ne te perdes pas dans le quartier》的叙述者一样，莫迪亚诺（Modiano）应该被视为“树木丰收”，特别是因为在他的整个著作中，动植物之间有着各种联系。为了维持这些假设，本文使用了有关植物，草地，草和类的植物学和生态批评著作（Rachel Bouvet，Alain Corbin，Gilles Deleuze，FrancisHallé，Denise Le Dantec，Stephanie Posthumus）。