Sarraute - Nathalie Sarraute

A French female novelist and one of the leading figures of the nouveau roman movement. Born in Russia as the daughter of a Jewish dye factory owner, she commuted between Switzerland, France, and Russia after her parents divorced. Her mother also contributed to a magazine edited by Korolenko and published several novels. Nathalie eventually received a French education under her father, who fled to Paris, and studied English literature at the Sorbonne, history at Oxford, and sociology at the University of Berlin. She then graduated from the Faculty of Law at the University of Paris and became a lawyer together with her husband Raymond. His debut novel, Tropisme (1939), was completely ignored except for the encouragement of Jacob and Sartre, but he gradually attracted attention with his subsequent works Portrait of a Stranger (1949), Maltroupe (1953), and Planetarium (1959). His Golden Fruit (1963), which traced the progress of the novel of the same name, from its abnormal rise in popularity due to collective impulse to its gradual decline and complete neglect, like a seismograph, won the Prix de Formentor against Yukio Mishima's The Temple of the Golden Pavilion. In all of his works, he regards the latent movements of the human psyche as something like a porridge-like substance with minute particles scattered about, and depicts the mental state of indecision and anxiety unique to modern people in the tropism of the particles, which in response to external stimuli changes direction involuntarily, like the heliotropy of sunflowers, or in biological terms, "tropism." He developed his theory in his collection of essays, The Age of Distrust (1956), but in his novels Between Life and Death (1968), The Voices They Hear (1972), and When I Was a Child (1983), he took his theories to even greater abstraction. He also wrote six plays. Even at the age of 90, he continued to display astonishing prowess, publishing Here (1995) and Please Open It (1997).

[Atsuyoshi Hiraoka]

"Tropism" translated by Akimasa Sugano (1965, Shinchosha)" ▽ "Planetarium" translated by Akimasa Sugano (1961, Shinchosha)" ▽ "The Age of Distrust" translated by Koji Shirai (1958, Kinokuniya Shoten)" ▽ "Between Life and Death" translated by Atsuyoshi Hiraoka (1971, Hakusuisha)" ▽ "Those Voices..." translated by Akimasa Sugano (1976, Chuokoron-Shinsha)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

フランスの女流小説家。ヌーボー・ロマンを代表する一人。ユダヤ系染料工場主の娘としてロシアに生まれ、両親の離婚に伴い、スイス、フランス、ロシアを往復した。母親もコロレンコ編集の雑誌に寄稿し、何編も小説を発表している。ナタリーは最終的にパリに亡命した父親のもとでフランスの教育を受け、ソルボンヌ大学で英文学、オックスフォード大学で歴史、ベルリン大学で社会学を学んだあと、パリ大学法学部を卒業して、夫レーモンとともに弁護士となった。処女作『トロピスム』（1939）は、ジャコブとサルトルの激励を受けた以外完全に黙殺されたが、続いて『見知らぬ男の肖像』（1949）、『マルトロー』（1953）、『プラネタリウム』（1959）を発表してしだいに注目され、同題の小説の評価が集団的な衝動によって異常に高まり、やがて徐々に低下し、完全な無視に至る経過を地震計のようにたどった『黄金の果実』（1963）で、三島由紀夫の『金閣寺』と争い、フォルメントール賞を受賞した。いずれの作品においても、人間の心理の潜在的な動きを、微細な粒子が散乱する粥(かゆ)状物質のようなものとしてとらえ、ヒマワリの向日性のように、外界の刺激に応じてそれらの微粒子が不随意に方向を変える屈動性、すなわち生物学用語でいう「トロピスム」のなかに、現代人特有の不決断と不安の精神状況を描き出している。評論集『不信の時代』（1956）でその理論を展開したが、小説『生と死の間』（1968）、『あの彼らの声が……』（1972）、『子供のころ』（1983）では、いっそう抽象化を進めた。戯曲も6編ある。90歳を越えてもなお『ここでは』（1995）、『開けてちょうだい』（1997）を発表して、驚嘆すべき健筆をふるった。

［平岡篤頼］

『菅野昭正訳『トロピスム』（1965・新潮社）』▽『菅野昭正訳『プラネタリウム』（1961・新潮社）』▽『白井浩司訳『不信の時代』（1958・紀伊國屋書店）』▽『平岡篤頼訳『生と死の間』（1971・白水社）』▽『菅野昭正訳『あの彼らの声が……』（1976・中央公論社）』

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