Beyond the silence: the French Catholic novel in the late twentieth century. An analysis of works by Françoise Mallet-Joris, Christiane Singer, and Sylvie Germain

Thompson, Michael Edmund (2025) Beyond the silence: the French Catholic novel in the late twentieth century. An analysis of works by Françoise Mallet-Joris, Christiane Singer, and Sylvie Germain. PhD thesis, Birkbeck, University of London.

Abstract

Through an analysis of novels by Françoise Mallet-Joris, Christiane Singer, and Sylvie Germain, this thesis argues for the existence of a fresh expression of religiously informed writing towards the end of the twentieth century, in spite of the accepted critical narrative, according to which the French Catholic novel was moribund by the nineteen-fifties, weighed down by a nostalgic, anti-rational ideology and an aesthetic marred by intrusive authorial manipulation. While their narrative techniques differ, each author here shares an interest in accounts of mystical experience, predominantly by women, ranging from the twelfth to the twentieth centuries. Drawing upon this inspiration, patterns of ascesis involving purgation, contemplation, and illumination are explored in both historically and contemporary based works. In a striking innovation, the “flesh”, traditionally seen as an obstacle to spiritual progress, is rehabilitated as a privileged means, and site, of Divine encounter. The mystery of evil, and the apparent silence of God in the face of human suffering, also particularly concerns Mallet-Joris and Germain, as their characters try to find meaning in the midst of devastating loss. Critics often label these novels as ‘mystical’ or ‘spiritual’, with an implication that these terms stand in opposition to organized religion. The fact that many of these works function within the characteristic Christian narrative of creation, fall and re-creation, employ imagery, often eucharistic in nature, conveying a sacramental view of reality, and use various techniques characteristic of apophatic discourse to outflank the limitations of referential language, all suggest that they belong within a tradition integral to Catholic thinking and aesthetics. I argue that they respond to many of the criticisms laid against the “golden age” Catholic novels and also reflect post-Vatican II changes in theological understanding and evolving social attitudes. As such, these authors are the worthy successors of Mauriac, Bernanos, and Green.

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