Marguerite Duras

Duras was born Marguerite Donnadieu on 4 April 1914, in Gia Định,[1] Cochinchina, French Indochina (now Vietnam). Her parents, Marie (née Legrand, 1877-1956) and Henri Donnadieu (1872-1921), were teachers from France who likely had met at Gia Định High School.[2][3] They had both had previous marriages. Marguerite had two older brothers: Pierre, the elder, and Paul.

Duras's father fell ill and he returned to France, where he died in 1921. Between 1922 and 1924, the family lived in France while her mother was on administrative leave. They then moved back to French Indochina when she was posted to Phnom Penh followed by Vĩnh Long and Sa Đéc. The family struggled financially and her mother made a bad investment in an isolated property and area of rice farmland in Prey Nob,[2] a story which was fictionalized in Un Barrage contre le Pacifique.

In 1931, when she was 17, Duras and her family moved to France and she completed her baccalaureate. Duras returned to Saigon again with Paul and her mother in 1932 and completed her second baccalaureate, leaving Pierre in France. In 1933, Duras embarked alone for Paris to study law and mathematics. She soon abandoned this to concentrate on political science.[2] After completing her studies in 1938, she worked for the French government in the Ministry of the Colonies. In 1939, she married the writer Robert Antelme, whom she had met during her studies.[2]

During World War II, from 1942 to 1944, Duras worked for the Vichy government in an office that allocated paper quotas to publishers and in the process operated a de facto book-censorship system. She also became an active member of the PCF (the French Communist Party)[2] and a member of the French Resistance as a part of a small group that also included François Mitterrand, who later became President of France and remained a lifelong friend of Duras.[2] Her husband, Antelme, was deported to Buchenwald in 1944[4] for his involvement in the Resistance, and barely survived the experience (weighing on his release, according to Duras, just 38 kg, or 84 pounds). She nursed him back to health, but they divorced once he recovered.

In 1943, when publishing her first novel, she began to use the surname Duras, after the town that her father came from, Duras.[5]

In 1950, her mother returned to France, wealthy from property investments and from the boarding school she had run.[3]

Duras was the author of many novels, plays, films, interviews, essays, and works of short fiction, including her best-selling, highly fictionalized autobiographical work L'Amant (1984), translated into English as The Lover, which describes her youthful affair with a Chinese-Vietnamese man. It won the Prix Goncourt in 1984.[6] The story of her adolescence also appears in three other books: The Sea Wall, Eden Cinema and The North China Lover. A film version of The Lover, produced by Claude Berri and directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud, was released to great success in 1992. Duras's novel The Sea Wall was first adapted into the 1958 film This Angry Age by René Clément, and again in 2008 by Cambodian director Rithy Panh as The Sea Wall.

Other major works include Moderato Cantabile (1958), which was the basis of the 1960 film Seven Days... Seven Nights; Le Ravissement de Lol V. Stein (1964); and her play India Song, which Duras herself later directed as a film in 1975. She was also the screenwriter of the 1959 French film Hiroshima mon amour, which was directed by Alain Resnais.[7] Duras's early novels were fairly conventional in form, and were criticized for their "romanticism" by fellow writer Raymond Queneau; however, with Moderato Cantabile, she became more experimental, paring down her texts to give ever-increasing importance to what was not said. She was associated with the nouveau roman French literary movement, although she did not belong definitively to any one group. She was noted for her command of dialogue.[8]

In 1971, Duras signed the Manifesto of the 343, which publicly announced she had an abortion.[9]

Many of her works, such as Le Ravissement de Lol V. Stein and L'Homme assis dans le couloir (1980), deal with human sexuality.[10]

Towards the end of her life, Duras published a short, 54-page autobiographical book as a goodbye to her readers and family. The last entry was written on August 1, 1995 and read "I think it is all over. That my life is finished. I am no longer anything. I have become an appalling sight. I am falling apart. Come quickly. I no longer have a mouth, no longer a face".[11] Duras died at her home in Paris on March 3, 1996, aged 81.[12]

While married to Robert Antelme, Duras acted on her belief that fidelity was absurd. She created a ménage à trois when she started an affair with Dionys Mascolo, who fathered one of her sons.[13]

During the final two decades of Duras’ life, she experienced various health issues. Starting in 1980 she was hospitalized for the first time from a combination of alcohol and tranquilizers.[13] She was also undergoing various detoxification procedures to help her recover from her alcohol addiction. After being hospitalized in October 1988 she fell into a coma that lasted until June 1989.[14]

Paralleling her health issues in the 1980s, Duras began having a relationship with a homosexual actor named Yann Andréa.[13] Yann Andréa would help Duras through her various health issues. Duras would later detail these interactions and companionship in her final book Yann Andréa Steiner.[15]

Duras’ health would continue to decline into the 1990s, resulting in her death on March 3, 1996.[16]

Novels and stories

• Les Impudents, Plon, 1943
• La Vie tranquille, Gallimard, 1944
• Un barrage contre le Pacifique, Gallimard, 1950. Translated by Herma Briffault as The Sea Wall, 1952
• Le Marin de Gibraltar, Gallimard, 1952. Translated by Barbara Bray as The Sailor from Gibraltar, 1966
• Les petits chevaux de Tarquinia, Gallimard, 1953. Translated by Peter DuBerg as The Little Horses of Tarquinia, 1960
• Des journées entières dans les arbres, "Le Boa", "Madame Dodin", "Les Chantiers", Gallimard, 1954. Translated by Anita Barrows as Whole Days in the Trees, 1984
• Le Square, Gallimard, 1955 (tr. The Square, 1959)
• Moderato Cantabile, Les Éditions de Minuit, 1958. Translated by Richard Seaver as Moderato Cantabile, 1977
• Dix heures et demie du soir en été, Paris, 1960. Translated by Anne Borchardt as Ten-Thirty on a Summer Night, London, 1961
• L'après-midi de M. Andesmas, Gallimard, 1960. Translated by Anne Borchardt and Barbara Bray as The Afternoon of Mr. Andesmas, 1964
• Le Ravissement de Lol V. Stein, Gallimard, 1964. Translated by Richard Seaver as The Ravishing of Lol Stein, 1964
• Le Vice-Consul, Gallimard, 1965. Translated by Eileen Ellenborgener as The Vice-Consul, 1968
• L'Amante Anglaise (fr), Gallimard, 1967. Translated by Barbara Bray as L'Amante Anglaise, 1968
• Détruire, dit-elle, Les Éditions de Minuit, 1969. Translated by Barbara Bray as Destroy, She Said
• Abahn Sabana David, Gallimard, 1970
• Ah! Ernesto, Hatlin Quist, 1971
• L'Amour, Gallimard, 1972. Translated by Kazim Ali and Libby Murphy as L'Amour
• Vera Baxter ou les Plages de l'Atlantique, Albatros, 1980
• L'Homme assis dans le couloir, Les Éditions de Minuit, 1980. Translated by Barbara Bray as The Man Sitting in the Corridor, 1991
• L'Homme atlantique, Les Éditions de Minuit, 1982. Translated by Alberto Manguel as The Atlantic Man, 1993
• La Maladie de la mort, Les Éditions de Minuit, 1982. Translated by Barbara Bray as The Malady of Death, 1986
• L'Amant, Les Éditions de Minuit, 1984. Awarded the 1984 Prix Goncourt. Translated by Barbara Bray as The Lover
• La Douleur, POL, 1985. Translated by Barbara Bray as The War
• Les Yeux bleus Cheveux noirs, Les Éditions de Minuit, 1986. Translated by Barbara Bray as Blue Eyes, Black Hair, 1987
• La Pute de la côte normande, Les Éditions de Minuit, 1986. Translated by Alberto Manguel as The Slut of the Normandy Coast, 1993
• Emily L., Les Éditions de Minuit, 1987. Translated by Barbara Bray as Emily L.
• La Pluie d'été, POL, 1990. Translated by Barbara Bray as Summer Rain
• L'Amant de la Chine du Nord, Gallimard, 1991. Translated by Leigh Hafrey as The North China Lover, 1992
• Yann Andréa Steiner, Gallimard, 1992. Translated by Barbara Bray as Yann Andrea Steiner, 1993
• Écrire, Gallimard, 1993. Translated by Mark Polizzotti as Writing, 2011

Collections

• L'Été 80, Les Éditions de Minuit, 1980
• Outside, Albin Michel, 1981. Translated by Arthur Goldhammer as Outside, 1986
• La Vie matérielle, POL, 1987. Translated by Barbara Bray as Practicalities, 1990
• Les Yeux verts, Cahiers du cinéma, n.312–313, June 1980 and a new edition, 1987. Translated by Carol Barko as Green Eyes, 1990
• C'est tout, POL, 1995. Translated by Richard Howard as No More, 2000[17]

Theatre

• Les Viaducs de la Seine et Oise, Gallimard, 1959
• Théâtre I: Les Eaux et Forêts; Le Square; La Musica, Gallimard, 1965 (tr. The Rivers and the Forests, 1964; The Square; La Musica, 1965)
• Théâtre II: Suzanna Andler; Des journées entières dans les arbres; Yes, peut-être; Le Shaga; Un homme est venu me voir, Gallimard, 1968
• India Song, Gallimard, 1973. Translated by Barbara Bray as India Song, 1976
• L'Eden Cinéma, Mercure de France, 1977. Translated by Barbara Bray as Eden Cinema, 1992
• Agatha, Les Éditions de Minuit, 1981 (tr. Agatha)
• Savannah Bay, Les Éditions de Minuit, 1982, 2ème edition augmentée, 1983 (tr. Savannah Bay, 1992)
• Théâtre III: La Bête dans la jungle; Les Papiers d'Aspern; La Danse de mort, Gallimard, 1984
• La Musica deuxième, Gallimard, 1985

Screenplays

• Hiroshima mon amour, Gallimard, 1960. Translated by Barbara Wright & Richard Seaver as Hiroshima mon amour, 1961
• Nathalie Granger, suivi de "La Femme du Gange", Gallimard, 1973
• Le Camion, suivi de "Entretien avec Michelle Porte", Les Éditions de Minuit, 1977
• Le Navire Night, suivi de Cesarée, les Mains négatives, Aurélia Steiner, Mercure de France, 1979. Translated by Susan Dwyer as The Ship "Night"

Published in English

• Agatha, Savannah Bay, The Post-Apollo Press, 1992 (tr. Howard Limoli)

• Montalbán, Manuel Vázquez; Glasauer, Willi (1988). Scenes from World Literature and Portraits of Greatest Authors. Barcelona: Círculo de Lectores..
• Glassman, Deborah N. (1991). Marguerite Duras: Fascinating Vision and Narrative Cure. Rutherford, New Jersey; London: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press; Associated University Presses. ISBN 0838633374 – via Google Books.
• Hill, Leslie (10 July 1993). Marguerite Duras: Apocalyptic Desires. London, New York City: Routledge. ISBN 0415050480 – via Google Books.
• Schuster, Marilyn R. (1993). [arguerite Duras Revisited. New York City: Twayne. ISBN 0805782982. ISBN 9780805782981.
• Vircondelet, Alain (1994). Duras: A Biography. Normal, Illinois: Dalkey Archive Press. ISBN 1564780651. ISBN 9781564780652.
• Adler, Laure. (1998), Marguerite Duras: A Life, Trans. Anne-Marie Glasheen, London: Orion Books.
• Crowley, Martin (2000). Duras, Writing, and the Ethical. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0198160135. ISBN 9780198160137.
• Harvey, Robert; Alazet, Bernard; Volat, Hélène (2009). Les Écrits de Marguerite Duras: Bibliographie des oeuvres et de la critique, 1940–2006. Paris: IMEC. p. 530.
• Selous, Trista (1988), The Other Woman: Feminism and Feminity in the Work of Marguerite Duras, New Haven: Yale University Press. ISBN 9780300042870.

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Wikiquote has quotations related to: Marguerite Duras

• Marguerite Duras at IMDb
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• Edmund White, "In Love with Duras", The New York Review of Books, 26 June 2008
• Emilie Bickerton, "The Timeless Marguerite Duras", The Times Literary Supplement, 25 July 2007
• Hélène Volat, Marguerite Duras on-line bibliography
• Difference and Repetition: The Filmmaking of Marguerite Duras