As part of their study of autobiography in 9th grade, today’s 10th and 11th graders at the Lycée Français d’Oslo read excerpts from The Years as well as Annie Ernaux’s novel Shame in its entirety. Earlier this school year, they also studied passages from Cleaned Out, which was recently translated into Norwegian by Gyldendal under the title Tomme Skap.
It was precisely this publishing house that invited our students to attend an exceptional conference with the Nobel Prize in Literature. The author spoke about the recurring themes in her work – writing, social classes, the experience of femininity, and youth – and read a particularly moving excerpt from her novel A Woman’s story, devoted to the relationship between mother and daughter.
At the end of the discussion, our student Felix had the opportunity to ask Annie Ernaux a direct question: “Do you think that, in today’s world, social classes are growing closer together or moving further apart compared to your youth?” The author replied that class relations still exist, but they have taken on different forms.
This encounter was a tremendous honor for the LFO and allowed our students to gain a new perspective on one of the most significant authors of our time. We extend our sincere thanks to Gyldendal for this exceptional invitation.
