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Epilogue: Proustian afterlives

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 June 2012

Adam Watt
Affiliation:
Royal Holloway, University of London
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Summary

The idea that Bergotte was not dead for ever is by no means improbable.

They buried him, but all through that night of mourning, in the lighted shop-windows, his books, arranged three by three, kept vigil like angels with outspread wings and seemed, for him who was no more, the symbol of his resurrection.

(C, 209; P, 1744)

Almost a century after the publication of Swann's Way, and well over eighty years after his death, Proust undoubtedly lives on in the twenty-first century. Like Bergotte's, his books still keep vigil on displays in stores and shelves in libraries. Critics and commentators, journalists and bloggers mention his name, allude to traits of his work; opinions and idées reçues pass between generations of readers; and so, improbably yet perceptibly, in our modern, hurried world where verbal communication comes in ‘tweets’ rather than tomes, the man, the myth and the work live on. In Search of Lost Time continues to attract readers and provoke critical responses, but not solely in the form of scholarly articles, monographs and academic conferences. For many years Proust's face and appearance have been caricatured by cartoonists and illustrators in the broadsheets, literary journals and colour supplements. Since 1998 enthusiasts have been following and awaiting successive instalments of Stéphane Heuet's version of In Search of Lost Time in graphic novel format, of which five beautifully illustrated volumes have appeared to date.

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Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2011

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  • Epilogue: Proustian afterlives
  • Adam Watt, Royal Holloway, University of London
  • Book: The Cambridge Introduction to Marcel Proust
  • Online publication: 05 June 2012
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511973826.007
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  • Epilogue: Proustian afterlives
  • Adam Watt, Royal Holloway, University of London
  • Book: The Cambridge Introduction to Marcel Proust
  • Online publication: 05 June 2012
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511973826.007
Available formats
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Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Epilogue: Proustian afterlives
  • Adam Watt, Royal Holloway, University of London
  • Book: The Cambridge Introduction to Marcel Proust
  • Online publication: 05 June 2012
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511973826.007
Available formats
×