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{{Short description|French writer and professor}}
{{Current related|article|Nobel Prize in Literature|date=October 2008}}
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{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2014}}
{{Infobox Writer <!-- for more information see [[:Template:Infobox Writer/doc]] -->
{{Infobox writer <!-- for more information see [[:Template:Infobox writer/doc]] -->
| name = Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clézio
| name = J. M. G. Le Clézio
| image =
| image = Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clézio-press conference Dec 06th, 2008-9 (cropped).jpg
| imagesize =
| caption =
| imagesize =
| pseudonym = J.M.G. Le Clézio
| caption = Le Clézio in 2008
| birth_name = Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clézio
| birthname =
| birthdate = {{Birth date and age|1940|4|13|df=y}}
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=yes|1940|4|13}}
| birthplace = [[Nice]], [[France]]
| birth_place = [[Nice]], France
| deathdate =
| death_date =
| deathplace =
| death_place =
| occupation = [[Writer]] and [[translator]]
| occupation = Writer
| education =
| nationality = [[France|French]], [[Mauritius]]
| period =
| alma_mater =
| period = 1963–present
| genre =
| genre = Novel, short story, essay, translation
| subject =
| subject = Exile, migration, childhood, ecology
| spouse =
| movement =
| spouse =
| partner =
| notableworks = ''[[Le Procès-Verbal]]'' (translated as ''The Interrogation'')
| children =
| awards = {{awd|[[Prix Renaudot]]|1963}} {{awd|grand prix [[Paul Morand]]|1980}} {{awd|[[Nobel Prize in Literature]]|2008}}
| influences =
| relatives =
| influenced =
| movement =
| notableworks = ''[[Le Procès-Verbal]]'', ''[[Désert (novel)|Désert]]''
| signature =
| awards = {{awd|[[Nobel Prize in Literature]]|2008}}
| website =
| signature =
| website =
| portaldisp =
}}
}}
'''Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clézio''' ({{IPA-fr|ʒɑ̃ maʁi ɡystav lə klezjo|lang}}; 13 April 1940), usually identified as '''J. M. G. Le Clézio''', of French and Mauritian nationality, is a writer and professor. The author of over forty works, he was awarded the 1963 [[Prix Renaudot]] for his novel ''[[Le Procès-Verbal]]'' and the [[2008 Nobel Prize in Literature]] for his life's work, as an "author of new departures, poetic adventure and sensual ecstasy, explorer of a humanity beyond and below the reigning civilization".<ref name="nobelweb"/>

'''Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clézio''', or '''J.M.G. Le Clézio''' (born 13 April 1940) is a [[France|French]] [[novelist]]. The author of over thirty works, he was awarded the 1963 [[Prix Renaudot]] and the 2008 [[Nobel Prize in Literature]].<ref name="nobelweb">{{cite web | url=http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/2008/| title=The Nobel Prize in Literature 2008 | accessdate=2008-10-09 | publisher=Nobelprize.org }}</ref>


==Biography==
==Biography==
Le Clézio's mother was born in the [[French Riviera]] city of [[Nice]], his father on the island of [[Mauritius]] (which was a British possession, but his father was ethnically Breton, in France). Both his father's and his mother's ancestors were originally from [[Morbihan]], on the south coast of [[Brittany]].<ref name=geo>
Le Clézio was born in the French Riviera city of [[Nice]] to a British father and French mother.<ref name="times">{{cite news | title =Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clezio wins the 2008 Nobel Literature Prize | publisher =Times Online | date =[[2008-10-09]] | url =http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/article4913765.ece | accessdate =2008-10-09 }}</ref> His ancestors emigrated from [[Brittany]] to the ''île de France''—today's [[Mauritius]]—in the 18th century. During [[World War II]], the family was separated, his father being unable to join his wife and children in [[Nice]].<ref>{{cite web | url=http://livres.lexpress.fr/entretien.asp/idC=8178/idR=5/idTC=4/idG=0 | language=French | title=Le Clézio-Maalouf: un air de famille | accessdate=2008-10-09 | publisher=L'Express Livres }}</ref> Le Clézio moved with his family at age 8 to [[Nigeria]]<ref name="APbio">{{cite news|publisher=''Boston Herald''|title=France’s Le Clezio wins Nobel literature prize|url=http://news.bostonherald.com/news/international/europe/view.bg?articleid=1124501|date=2008-10-09|accessdate=2008-10-09}}</ref> where his father served as a [[surgeon]] in the [[Military of the United Kingdom|British army]].<ref>See ''L'Africain'' (2004)</ref>
{{cite news
|url=http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/the_tls/article709674.ece
|title=A Frenchman and a Geographer
|access-date=9 December 2008
|work= 5th paragraph
|publisher=review is taken from the TLS
|date=21 April 2006
|quote="Le Clézio's family were originally from Morbihan on the west coast of Brittany. At the time of the Revolution, one of his ancestors, who had refused to enlist in the Revolutionary Army because they had insisted he cut his long hair, fled France intending to reach India, but disembarked on Mauritius, and stayed there | location=London
| first=Adrian
| last=Tahourdin}}</ref>
His paternal ancestor François Alexis Le Clézio fled France in 1798 and settled with his wife and daughter on [[Mauritius]], which was then a French colony but would soon pass into British hands. The colonists were allowed to maintain their customs and use the French language. Le Clézio has never lived in Mauritius for more than a few months at a time, but he has stated that he regards himself both as a Frenchman and a Mauritian.<ref name=roots>{{cite web|url=http://www.comcast.net/articles/news-entertainment/20081207/EU.Sweden.Nobel.Le.Clezio/ |title=Internet might have stopped Hitler |access-date=12 December 2008 |publisher=comcast.net |date=7 December 2008 |quote="Though he was born in France, Le Clézio's father is British and he holds dual nationality with Mauritius, where his family has roots" |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081209075618/http://www.comcast.net/articles/news-entertainment/20081207/EU.Sweden.Nobel.Le.Clezio/ |archive-date=9 December 2008 }}</ref><ref>
{{cite news
|url=http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/the_tls/article709674.ece
|title=A Frenchman and a geographer
|access-date=11 December 2008
|work=Adrian Tahourdin
|publisher= The Times Literary Supplement
|date=21 April 2006
|quote="Le Clezio regards himself as Franco-Mauritian | location=London}}</ref> He has dual French and Mauritian citizenship (Mauritius gained independence in 1968) and calls Mauritius his "little fatherland".<ref name="guardian">{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2008/oct/10/nobelprize-france |title=Nobel award restores French literary pride |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |author=Angelique Chrisafis |date=10 October 2008 |quote="He has joint Mauritian citizenship and calls the island his "little fatherland" | location=London}}</ref><ref name="times">
{{cite news
| title = Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clezio wins the 2008 Nobel Literature Prize
| newspaper = Times Online
| date = 9 October 2008
| url = http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/article4913765.ece
| access-date = 2008-10-09
| quote = Le Clézio, who was born in Nice and has lived in England, New Mexico and South Korea, said that he was touched by the honour. He mentioned his British father, a surgeon, and his childhood in Mauritius and Nigeria. "I was born of a mix, like many people currently in Europe," he said.
| location=London
| first=Charles
| last=Bremner}}</ref>


Le Clézio was born in Nice, his mother's native city, during [[World War II]] when his father was serving in the [[British Army]] in Nigeria.<ref>
After studying at [[Bristol University]] from 1958 to 1959, he finished his undergraduate degree at Nice's Institut d’etudes Litteraires.<ref name="APbio" /> After several years spent in London and Bristol, he moved to the [[United States]] to work as a teacher. He was assigned to [[Thailand]] in 1967 for his military service, but was quickly expelled for protesting against child prostitution and sent to Mexico to finish his military obligation. From 1970 to 1974, he lived with the [[Embera-Wounaan]] Indians in [[Panama]].
{{cite book |title = Multicultural Writers Since 1945
|last = della Fazia Amoia
|first = Alba
|author2 = Alba Amoia
|author3 = Bettina Liebowitz
|year = 2009
|publisher = Greenwood Publishing Group
|location = Westport, Connecticut
|isbn = 978-0-313-30688-4
|pages = [https://archive.org/details/multiculturalwri0000unse/page/313 313–318]
|url = https://archive.org/details/multiculturalwri0000unse/page/313
}}</ref> He was raised in [[Roquebillière]], a small village near Nice until 1948 when he, his mother, and his brother boarded a ship to join his father in [[Colonial Nigeria|Nigeria]]. His 1991 novel ''[[Onitsha (novel)|Onitsha]]'' is partly autobiographical. In a 2004 [[The African (essay)|essay]], he reminisced about his childhood in Nigeria and his relationship with his parents.


After studying at the [[University of Bristol]] in England from 1958 to 1959,<ref>{{cite web | title = Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clézio wins Nobel Prize | publisher = University of Bristol | date = 10 October 2008 | url = http://www.bris.ac.uk/news/2008/5946.html | access-date =2008-11-07 }}</ref> Le Clézio finished his undergraduate degree at Nice's Institut d'études littéraires.<ref>[http://www.mba-unice.eu/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=10&Itemid=70 MBA-unice.edu] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090808051711/http://www.mba-unice.eu/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=10&Itemid=70 |date=8 August 2009 }}</ref> In 1964 Le Clézio earned a master's degree from the [[Aix-Marseille University|University of Provence]] with a thesis on [[Henri Michaux]] and the mystical experience.<ref>Marshall, Bill; Cristina Johnston. ''France and the Americas''. ABC-CLIO, 2005. {{ISBN|1-85109-411-3}}. p.697</ref>
Le Clézio earned a master's degree with a thesis on [[Henri Michaux]] from the [[University of Aix-en-Provence]] in 1964,<ref>Marshall, Bill; Cristina Johnston. ''France and the Americas''. ABC-CLIO, 2005. ISBN 1851094113. p.697</ref> and wrote a doctoral thesis in 1983 on Mexico’s early history for the [[University of Perpignan]] (he is a specialist on [[Michoacán]]).<ref name="APbio" /> He has been married since 1975 to Jémia, who is Moroccan. Since the 1990s they have divided their residence between [[Albuquerque, New Mexico]], Mauritius, and Nice.<ref name="">{{cite news | last =Pollard | first =Niklas | coauthors = Estelle Shirbon | title = "Nomadic" writer wins Nobel prize| publisher =''International Herald Tribune'' | date =[[2008-10-09]] | url =http://www.iht.com/articles/reuters/2008/10/09/europe/OUKWD-UK-NOBEL-LITERATURE.php | accessdate =2008-10-09 }}</ref>


After several years spent in London and Bristol, Le Clézio moved to the United States to work as a teacher. In 1967 he served as an aid worker in [[Thailand]] as part of his national service, but was quickly expelled from the country for protesting against child prostitution and sent to [[Mexico]] to finish his national service. From 1970 to 1974, he lived with the [[Embera-Wounaan]] tribe in [[Panama]]. He has been married since 1975 to Jémia Jean, who is Moroccan, and has three daughters (one by his first marriage with Rosalie Piquemal). Since the 1990s they have divided their residence between [[Albuquerque, New Mexico|Albuquerque]], Mauritius, and Nice.<ref>{{cite news | last =Pollard | first =Niklas |author2=Estelle Shirbon | title = Nomadic writer wins Nobel prize| newspaper =International Herald Tribune | date =9 October 2008 | url =http://www.iht.com/articles/reuters/2008/10/09/europe/OUKWD-UK-NOBEL-LITERATURE.php | access-date =2008-10-09 }}</ref>
He has taught at numerous universities around the world. A frequent visitor to South Korea, he taught French language and literature at [[Ewha Womans University]] in [[Seoul]] for two semesters from 2007 to 2008.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://joongangdaily.joins.com/article/view.asp?aid=2884578 |title=Acclaimed French author praises Korean literature |publisher=[[JoongAng Daily]] |date=2008-01-02 |author=Lee Esther }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.donga.com/fbin/output?f=total&n=200810090575 |title=한국과 각별한 인연 가진 르클레지오 |publisher=[[Dong-a Ilbo]] |language=Korean |author=[[Yonhap News]] |date=2008-10-09}}</ref>


In 1983 Le Clézio wrote a doctoral thesis on colonial Mexican history for the [[University of Perpignan]], on the conquest of the [[Purépecha people]] who inhabit the present-day state of [[Michoacán]]. It was serialized in a French magazine and published in Spanish in 1985.<ref>Le Clézio, ''La Conquista divina de Michoacán''. Fondo de Cultura Económica</ref>
==Works and writing==
A great traveller, Le Clézio has been writing since age seven when he wrote a book about the sea. After [[Academic major|majoring]] in [[French literature]], he became well known at 23 with the publication of his first novel, ''[[Le Procès-Verbal]]'' (''The Interrogation''), which was shortlisted for the [[Prix Goncourt]] and for which he was awarded the [[Prix Renaudot]] in 1963.<ref name="times" />


Le Clézio has taught at a number of universities around the world. A frequent visitor to [[South Korea]], he taught French language and literature at [[Ewha Womans University]] in [[Seoul]] during the 2007 academic year.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://joongangdaily.joins.com/article/view.asp?aid=2884578 |title=Acclaimed French author praises Korean literature |publisher=[[JoongAng Daily]] |date=2 January 2008 |author=Lee Esther }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.donga.com/fbin/output?f=total&n=200810090575 |script-title=ko:한국과 각별한 인연 가진 르클레지오 |newspaper=[[Dong-a Ilbo]] |language=ko |author=Yonhap News |date=9 October 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081211165923/http://www.donga.com/fbin/output?f=total&n=200810090575 |archive-date=11 December 2008 |df=dmy-all |author-link=Yonhap News }}</ref> In November 2013, Le Clézio joined Nanjing University in China as a professor.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nju.edu.cn/english/_t317/04/75/c99a1141/page.psp |title=Nobel Laureate Le Clézio Officially Joins Nanjing University |date=Nov 6, 2013 |access-date=27 May 2019 |archive-date=2 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200802163611/https://www.nju.edu.cn/english/_t317/04/75/c99a1141/page.psp |url-status=dead }}</ref>
Since then he has published about thirty books, including short stories, novels, essays, two translations on the subject of Indian mythology, countless prefaces and reviews as well as a few contributions to collective publications. He is the author of several children's books.


== Literary career ==
From 1963 to 1975, Le Clézio explored themes like [[insanity]], [[language]], [[writing]] and devoted himself to formal experimentation in the wake of such contemporaries as [[Georges Perec]] or [[Michel Butor]]. Le Clézio's public image was that of an [[innovation|innovator]] and a [[rebellion|rebel]], drawing praise from [[Michel Foucault]] and [[Gilles Deleuze]].
LE Clézio began writing at the age of seven; his first work was a book about the sea. He achieved success at the age of 23, when his first novel, ''[[Le Procès-Verbal]]'' (''The Interrogation''), was the [[Prix Renaudot]] and was shortlisted for the [[Prix Goncourt]].<ref name="times" /> Since then he has published more than thirty-six books, including short stories, novels, essays, two translations on the subject of [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|Native American]] mythology, and several children's books.


From 1963 to 1975, Le Clézio explored themes such as [[insanity]], [[language]], nature, and writing. He devoted himself to formal experimentation in the wake of such contemporaries as [[Georges Perec]] or [[Michel Butor]]. His persona was that of an [[innovation|innovator]] and a rebel, for which he was praised by [[Michel Foucault]] and [[Gilles Deleuze]].
In the late 1970s, Le Clézio's style underwent a drastic change; he abandoned experimentation and the mood of his novels became less tormented as he broached themes like [[childhood]], [[adolescence]] or [[travel]]ing, attracting a broader, more popular audience. In 1980, Le Clézio was the first winner of the newly created [[grand prix Paul-Morand]], awarded to ''Désert'' by the [[Académie française]].


During the late 1970s, Le Clézio's style changed drastically; he abandoned experimentation, and the mood of his novels became less tormented as he used themes like [[childhood]], adolescence, and travelling, which attracted a broader audience. In 1980, Le Clézio was the first winner of the newly created Grand Prix [[Paul Morand]], awarded by the [[Académie Française]], for his novel ''Désert''.<ref name=TLS>{{cite news |url=http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/the_tls/article709674.ece |title=A Frenchman and a geographer |access-date=9 December 2008 |work= 5th paragraph|publisher=review is taken from the TLS |date= 21 April 2006|quote="Le Clezio received the Academie Francaise's Grand Prix Paul Morand in 1980 for Desert, a novel that revealed a move towards a more expansive and lyrical style. The book has a dual narrative. The first, dated 1909–10, chronicles the tragic fate of a Tuareg clan fleeing across Morocco from their French and Spanish colonial oppressors ("les chrétiens")". | location=London | first=Adrian | last=Tahourdin}}</ref> In 1994, a survey conducted by the French literary magazine ''[[Lire (magazine)|Lire]]'' showed that 13 per cent of the readers considered him to be the greatest living French-language writer.<ref>{{cite web
In 1994 a survey conducted by the French literary magazine ''[[Lire]]'' showed that 13% of the readers considered him to be the greatest living French language writer.<ref>''Lire'', "Le Clézio N° 1" , 1994, 22s. </ref>
|url=http://www.mediaterre.org/ocean-indien/actu%2C20081014083035.html
|title=Maurice : Source d'Inspiration pour le Prix Nobel de Littérature, Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clézio (''Lire'', "Le Clézio N° 1" , 1994, 22s. )
|access-date=12 December 2008
|work=Portail Ocean Indie
|publisher=modéré par CEDREFI
|date=14 October 2008
|language=fr
|quote=Prix du plus grand écrivain francophone du magazine Lire
|url-status=bot: unknown
|archive-url=https://archive.today/20121104091801/http://www.mediaterre.org/ocean-indien/actu,20081014083035.html
|archive-date= 4 November 2012
}}</ref>


==Nobel Prize==
He was awarded the [[Nobel Prize in Literature]] in 2008. He is the first French citizen to receive the prize since [[Gao Xingjian]] in 2000, and the first French-language writer to win since [[Claude Simon]] in 1985. The Swedish Academy, in announcing the award, called Le Clézio an "author of new departures, poetic adventure and sensual ecstasy, explorer of a humanity beyond and below the reigning civilization."<ref name="post">{{cite news | last =Thompson | first =Bob | title =France's Le Clezio Wins Nobel Literature Prize | publisher =''The Washington Post'' | date =[[2008-10-09]] | url =http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/09/AR2008100900243.html?hpid=topnews | accessdate =2008-10-09 }}</ref>
{{main|2008 Nobel Prize in Literature}}
[[Image:Nobel2008Literature news conference1-1.jpg|thumb|[[Horace Engdahl]] announces Le Clézio winning the Nobel Prize for Literature on 9 October 2008]]
The [[Nobel Prize in Literature]] for 2008 went to Le Clézio for works characterized by the [[Swedish Academy]] as being "poetic adventure and sensual ecstasy" and for being focused on the environment, especially the desert.<ref name="nobelweb">{{cite web | url=http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/2008/| title=The Nobel Prize in Literature 2008 | access-date=2008-10-09 | publisher=Nobelprize.org }}</ref> The [[Swedish Academy]], in announcing the award, called Le Clézio an "author of new departures, poetic adventure and sensual ecstasy, explorer of a humanity beyond and below the reigning civilization."<ref name="post">{{cite news | last =Thompson | first =Bob | title =France's Le Clézio Wins Nobel Literature Prize | newspaper =The Washington Post | date =9 October 2008 | url =https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/09/AR2008100900243.html?hpid=topnews | access-date =2008-10-09 }}</ref> Le Clézio used his Nobel prize acceptance lecture to attack the subject of information poverty.<ref name=lecture>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2008/dec/08/jmg-clezio-nobel-lecture |title=Le Clézio uses Nobel lecture to attack information poverty |access-date=14 December 2008 |publisher= guardian.co.uk home|date=8 December 2008 | location=London | first=Richard | last=Lea}}</ref> The title of his lecture was ''Dans la forêt des paradoxes'' ("In the forest of paradoxes"), a title he attributed to [[Stig Dagerman]].<ref name=english>{{cite web |url=http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/2008/clezio-lecture_en.html |title=The Nobel Foundation 2008 |access-date=11 December 2008 |author=The Nobel Foundation 2008 |date=7 December 2008 |work=Nobel Lecture |publisher=The Nobel Foundation 2008
}}</ref>

[[Gao Xingjian]], a Chinese émigré writing in [[Mandarin Chinese|Mandarin]], was the previous French citizen to receive the prize (for 2000); Le Clézio was the first French-language writer to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature since [[Claude Simon]] for 1985, and the fourteenth since [[Sully Prudhomme]], laureate of the first prize of 1901.

==Controversy==
Le Clézio is a staunch defender of Mama Rosa, director of a Mexican shelter raided by the police in July 2014 when children were found eating rotten food and kept against the will of their parents. He wrote an article in ''Le Monde'' arguing that she is close to sanctity.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.lemonde.fr/idees/article/2014/07/23/plaidoyer-pour-mama-rosa_4461743_3232.html |title=Foyer de l'horreur au Mexique : plaidoyer pour " Mama Rosa " par JMG Le Clézio |newspaper=[[Le Monde]] |date=2014-07-24 |author=JMG Le Clézio }}</ref>


==Bibliography==
==Bibliography==
* ''[[Le procès-verbal]]'' ([[Prix Renaudot]] 1963; published in English as ''The Interrogation'')
* ''[[La fièvre]]'' (published in English as ''Fever'')
* ''[[Le déluge]]'' (1966, published in English as ''The Flood'')
* ''[[L'extase matérielle]]'' (''Material Ecstasy'', 1967)
* ''[[Terra Amata (novel)|Terra amata]]'' (''Beloved Earth'', 1967, published in English as ''Terra Amata'')
* ''[[Le livre des fuites]]'' (''The Book of Escapes'', 1969, published in English as ''The Book of Flights: An Adventure Story'')
* ''[[La guerre]]'' (1970, published in English as ''War'')
* ''[[Haï]]'' (1971)
* ''[[Mydriase]]'' (1973)
* ''[[Les géants]]'' (1973, published in English as ''The Giants'')
* ''[[Voyages de l'autre côté]]'' (''Journeys Beyond'', 1975)
* ''[[Les prophéties du Chilam Balam]]'' (''Chilam Balam Prophecies'', 1976)
* ''[[Vers les icebergs (Essai sur Henri Michaux)]]'' (''To the Icebergs'', 1978; an essay on [[Henri Michaux]])
* ''[[Mondo et autres histoires]]'' (''Mondo and other stories'', 1978)
* ''[[L'inconnu sur la terre]]'' (''The Stranger on the Earth'', 1978)
* ''[[Trois villes saintes]]'' (''Three Holy Cities'')
* ''[[Désert (novel)]]'' (''Desert'', 1980)
* ''[[La ronde et autres faits divers]]'' (1982, published in English as ''The Round & Other Cold Hard Facts'')
* ''[[Relation de Michoacan]]''
* ''[[Le chercheur d'or]]'' (1985, published in English as ''The Prospector'')
* ''[[Diego et Frida]]'' (''[[Diego Rivera]] and [[Frida Kahlo]]'')
*'' [[Voyage à Rodrigues]]'' (''Journey to [[Rodrigues (island)|Rodrigues]]'')
* ''[[Le rêve mexicain ou la pensée interrompue]]'' (1988, published in English as ''The Mexican Dream, or, The Interrupted Thought of Amerindian Civilizations'')
* ''[[Printemps et autres saisons]]'' (''Spring and other Seasons'')
* ''[[Onitsha (novel)|Onitsha]]'' (1991, a reference to the African city of [[Onitsha]], published in English under that same title)
* ''[[Étoile errante]]'' (1992, published in English as ''Wandering Star : a Novel'')
* ''[[Pawana]]''
* ''[[La quarantaine]]'' (''Quarantine'')
* ''[[Poisson d'or]]'' (''The Golden Fish'')
* ''[[Gens des nuages]]'' (''The Cloud People'', with Jémia Le Clézio)
* ''[[La fête chantée]]'' (''Sung Celebration'')
* ''[[Hasard (suivi d'Angoli Mala)]]'' (''Serendipity'')
* ''[[Cœur brûle et autres romances]]'' (''Burnt Heart and other romances'')
* ''[[Révolutions]]''
* ''[[L'Africain]]'' (2004) (''The African'')
* ''[[Ourania (novel)|Ourania]]'' (2006)


== Awards ==
=== Novels ===

[[Image:Nobel2008Literature_news_conference1-1.jpg|thumb|[[Horace Engdahl]] announces Le Clézio winning the Nobel Prize for Literature on 9 October 2008]]
* ''[[Le Procès-Verbal|Le Procès-verbal]]'' (1963). ''The Interrogation'', trans. Daphne Woodward (1964).
* 1963: [[Prix Renaudot|prix Théophraste-Renaudot]]
*''[[Le déluge|Le Déluge]]'' (1966). ''The Flood'', trans. Peter Green (1967).
* 1972: [[Prix Littéraire Valery Larbaud|prix littéraire Valery-Larbaud]]
* [[Terra Amata (novel)|''Terra Amata'']] (1967). ''Terra Amata'', trans. Barbara Bray (1967).
* 1980: grand prix de littérature Paul-Morand, awarded by the [[Académie française]]
* ''Le Livre des fuites'' (1969). ''The Book of Flights'', trans. Simon Watson-Taylor (1971).
* 1997: grand prix Jean-Giono
* ''La Guerre'' (1970). ''War'', trans. Simon Watson-Taylor (1973).
* 1998: prix Prince-de-Monaco
* ''Les Géants'' (1973). ''The Giants'', trans. Simon Watson-Taylor (1975).
* 2008: Stig Dagermanpriset
* ''[[Voyages de l'autre côté]]'' (1975).
* 2008: [[Nobel Prize in Literature]]
* [[Désert (novel)|''Désert'']] (1980). ''Desert'', trans. C. Dickson (2009).
* ''[[Le Chercheur d'or]]'' (1985). ''The Prospector'', trans. Carol Marks (1993); C. Dickson (2016).
* [[Onitsha (novel)|''Onitsha'']] (1991). ''Onitsha'', trans. Alison Anderson (1997).
* ''[[Étoile errante]]'' (1992). ''Wandering Star'', trans. C. Dickson (2005).
* [[La Quarantaine (novel)|''La Quarantaine'']] (1995).
* [[Poisson d'or (novel)|''Poisson d'or'']] (1997).
*[[Révolutions (novel)|''Révolutions'']] (2003).
* [[Ourania (novel)|''Ourania'']] (2006).
* ''[[Ritournelle de la faim]]'' (2008).
*''[[Alma (Le Clézio novel)|Alma]]'' (2017).

=== Short stories and novellas ===
*''[[Le Jour où Beaumont fit connaissance avec sa douleur]]'' (1964). ''The Day Beaumont Became Acquainted with His Pain''.
*''[[La fièvre|La Fièvre]]'' (1965). ''Fever'', trans. Daphne Woodward (1966)
*''[[Mondo et autres histoires]]'' (1978). ''Mondo and Other Stories'', trans. Alison Anderson (2011).
*''[[La ronde et autres faits divers|La Ronde et autres faits divers]]'' (1982). ''The Round & Other Cold Hard Facts'', trans. C. Dickson (2002).
*''[[Printemps et autres saisons]]'' (1989)
*[[Pawana|''Awaité Pawana'']] (1992). ''Pawana'', trans. Christophe Brunski (2008).<ref>{{Cite web |date=2008-10-12 |title=AGNI Online: Pawana by J. M. G. Le Clézio |url=http://www.bu.edu/agni/fiction/print/2001/53-clezio.html |access-date=2023-09-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081012090741/http://www.bu.edu/agni/fiction/print/2001/53-clezio.html |archive-date=12 October 2008 }}</ref>
*''[[La Fête chantée et autres essais de thème amérindien]]'' (1997)
*''[[Hasard suivi de Angoli Mala|Hasard suivi d'Angoli Mala]]'' (1999)
*''[[Cœur brûle et autres romances]]'' (2000)
*''[[Fantômes dans la rue]]'' (2000). ''Ghosts in the Street''.
*''[[Tabataba suivi de pawana|Tabataba suivi de Pawana]]'' (2002)
*''Histoire du pied et autres fantaisies'' (2011)
*''Tempête : deux novellas'' (2014). ''Storm''.
*''Chanson bretonne'', suivi de ''L'Enfant et la Guerre'' (2020)
*''Avers'' (2023)

=== Non-fiction ===

* [[The Mexican Dream, Or, The Interrupted Thought of Amerindian Civilizations|''Le Rêve mexicain ou La Pensée interrompue'']] (1965). ''The Mexican Dream, Or, The Interrupted Thought of Amerindian Civilizations'', trans. Teresa Lavender Fagan (1993).
*"[[On reading as true travel|Sur la lecture comme le vrai voyage]]" (1965). "On Reading as True Travel", trans. Julia Abramson.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Clezio |first1=J M G Le |title=On reading as true travel |journal=World Literature Today |volume=76 |issue=2 |date=Spring 2002 |pages=103–106 |doi=10.2307/40157273 |id={{Gale|A90307339}} |jstor=40157273 }}</ref>
*"[[Freedom to Dream and Freedom to Speak|La Liberté pour rêver]]" (1965). "Freedom to Dream", trans. Ralph Schoolcraft.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Le Clézio|first1=J. M. G.|last2=Schoolcraft|first2=Ralph|date=1997|title=Freedom to Dream |journal=World Literature Today|volume=71|issue=4|pages=671–674|doi=10.2307/40153284|jstor=40153284 }}</ref>
*"[[Freedom to Dream and Freedom to Speak|La Liberté pour parler]]" (1965). "Freedom to Speak", trans. Le Clézio.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Le Clézio|first=J. M. G.|date=1997|title=Freedom to Speak |journal=World Literature Today|volume=71|issue=4|pages=675–677|doi=10.2307/40153285|jstor=40153285 }}</ref>
* ''[[L'Extase matérielle|L'extase matérielle]]'' (1967). ''Material Ecstasy''.
* ''[[Conversations avec J. M. G. Le Clézio]]'' (1971)
*[[Haï(essays)|''Haï'']] (1971)
* ''[[Mydriase]]'' (1973). ''Mydriasis'', trans. Teresa Lavender Fagan, published in ''Mydriasis: Followed by “To the Icebergs”'' (2019).
* ''[[Vers les icebergs (Essai sur Henri Michaux)|Vers les icebergs]]'' (1978). ''To the Icebergs'', trans. Teresa Lavender Fagan, published in ''Mydriasis: Followed by “To the Icebergs”'' (2019).
* ''[[L'Inconnu sur la Terre]]'' (1978)
* ''[[Trois Villes saintes]]'' (1980)
*''[[Une lettre de J. M. G. Le Clézio]]'' (1982)
*''[[Sur Lautréamont]]'' (1987)
* ''[[Diego et Frida]]'' (1993)
* ''[[Ailleurs]]'' (1995)
* ''[[Dans la maison d'Edith]]'' (1997)
*''[[Enfances (essay)|Enfances]]'' (1998)
*''L'Enfant de sous le pont'' (2000)
*[[The African (short story)|''L'Africain'']] (2004). ''The African'', trans. C. Dickson (2013).
*''[[Ballaciner]]'' (2007)
*''Chanson bretonne suivi de L'Enfant et la guerre'' (2020)
*''Identité nomade'' (2024)

=== Travel diaries ===

* ''[[List of travel diaries by J. M. G. Le Clézio#Voyage à Rodrigues|Voyage à Rodrigues]]''
* ''[[Gens des nuages]]''
* ''[[List of travel diaries by J. M. G. Le Clézio#Raga. Approche du continent invisible|Raga. Approche du continent invisible]]''

=== Collections translated by the author into French ===

* ''[[List of collections translated by J. M. G. Le Clézio#Les Prophéties du Chilam Balam|Les Prophéties du Chilam Balam]]''
* ''[[List of collections translated by J. M. G. Le Clézio#Relation de Michoacan|Relation de Michoacan]]''
* ''[[List of collections translated by J. M. G. Le Clézio#Sirandanes|Sirandanes]]''

=== Books for children ===

* ''[[Voyage au pays des arbres]]'' (1978)
* ''Lullaby'' (1980). From ''[[Mondo et autres histoires]].''
* ''Peuple du ciel,'' suivi de ''Les Bergers'' (1981). Both from ''[[Mondo et autres histoires]]''.
* ''Celui qui n'avait jamais vu la mer'', suivi de ''La Montagne du dieu vivant'' (1982). Both from ''[[Mondo et autres histoires]]''.
* ''Villa Aurore'', suivi de ''Orlamonde'' (1985)
* ''Balaabilou'' (1985). Extracts from ''Désert''.
* ''[[La Grande Vie (novella)|La Grande Vie]]'', suivi de ''Peuple du ciel'' (1990). "La Grande Vie" from ''La Ronde et autres faits divers''.

=== Books written by other authors with preface written by Le Clézio ===

* The French-language preface to Juan Rulfo's short story collection ''[[Le Llano en Flammes]]''
* Preface to French filmmaker Robert Bresson's "[[Notes on the Cinematographer|Notes Sur Le Cinématographe]]"
See also: [[J. M. G. Le Clézio bibliography]].

== Awards and honors ==

=== Awards ===
{| cellspacing="5" style="position:relative; left:30"
|'''Year '''
|'''Prize'''
|'''Work'''
|-
| 1963
|[[Prix Renaudot|prix Théophraste-Renaudot]]
|[[Le Procès-Verbal|Le Procès-Verbal (The Interrogation)]]
|-
| 1972
|[[Prix Littéraire Valery Larbaud|prix littéraire Valery-Larbaud]]
| For his complete works<ref>{{cite web|year=2009|title=Prix Valery Larbaud|url=http://www.prix-litteraires.net/prix/440,prix-valery-larbaud.html|access-date=2009-02-16|publisher=Prix littéraires|quote=Pour l'ensemble de son oeuvre|archive-date=4 March 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100304113049/http://www.prix-litteraires.net/prix/440,prix-valery-larbaud.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>
|-
| 1980
|[[Grand prix de littérature Paul-Morand]],<br /> awarded by the [[Académie française]]
|-
| 1997
|[[Jean Giono Prize]]<ref>{{cite web|year=2009|title=Prix Jean Giono|url=http://www.fondation-pb-ysl.net/site/Litterature-200.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090105204458/http://www.fondation-pb-ysl.net/site/Litterature-200.html|archive-date=5 January 2009|access-date=2009-02-16|publisher=Fondation Pierre Bergé – Yves Saint Laurent|language=fr}}{{cite web|year=2009|title=Grand Prix Jean Giono|url=http://www.prix-litteraires.net/prix/117,grand-prix-jean-giono.html|access-date=2009-02-16|publisher=Prix littéraires|archive-date=16 August 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160816155826/http://www.prix-litteraires.net/prix/117,grand-prix-jean-giono.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>
|[[Poisson d'or (novel)|Poisson d'or]]
|-
| 1998
| prix Prince-de-Monaco
| For his complete works and upon publication of [[Poisson d'or (novel)|Poisson d'or]]<ref>pour l'ensemble de son œuvre, à l'occasion de la sortie de Poisson d'or 2008</ref>
|-
| 2008
|[[Stig Dagermanpriset]]<ref>{{cite news|date=24 October 2008|title=Ljusgestalt i ondskans tid|url=http://www.svd.se/kultur/litteratur/ljusgestalt-i-ondskans-tid_1935451.svd|access-date=27 October 2012|work=SvD|language=sv|last1=Jarlsbo|first1=Jeana}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|date=4 June 2008|title=Fransman får Stig Dagermanpriset|url=http://gd.se/kultur/1.26214-fransman-far-stig-dagermanpriset?articleRenderMode=default|access-date=27 October 2012|work=gd.se|language=sv}}{{Dead link|date=December 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>
| for his complete works and upon publication of [[Swedish language|Swedish]] translation of a travelogue [[List of travel diaries by J. M. G. Le Clézio#Raga. Approche du continent invisible|Raga. Approche du continent invisible]]<ref>{{cite web|year=2008|title=Ritournelle de la faim – Jean-Marie-Gustave Le Clézio|url=http://www.lehman.cuny.edu/ile.en.ile/paroles/leclezio.html|access-date=2009-02-16|work=Ses Prix et Récompenses|publisher=ciao.fr|language=fr|quote=pour l'ensemble de son œuvre, à l'occasion de la sortie suédoise de Raga. Approche du continent invisible}}</ref>
|-
| 2008
|[[Nobel Prize in Literature]]
|}

=== Honours ===
* He was made ''Chevalier'' (Knight) of the [[Légion d'honneur]] on 25 October 1991<ref name="jorf">
{{Cite journal|date=1 January 2009|title=Décret du 31 décembre 2008 portant promotion et nomination|url=http://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/WAspad/UnTexteDeJorf?numjo=PREX0828237D|journal=[[Journal Officiel de la République Française|JORF]]|volume=2009|issue=1|page=15|id=PREX0828237D|access-date=2009-04-05}}</ref> and was promoted to ''Officier'' (Officer) in 2009<ref name="Legion">{{cite web|date=1 January 2009|title=Simone Veil, Zidane et Lagardère décorés|url=http://www.lefigaro.fr/actualite-france/2009/01/01/01016-20090101ARTFIG00231-simone-veil-zidane-et-lagardere-decores-.php|access-date=2009-04-14|work=C.M. (lefigaro.fr) avec AFP|publisher=lefigaro.fr|language=fr|quote=Le Clézio est pour sa part élevé au grade d'officier}}</ref>
* In 1996, he was made ''Officier'' (Officer) of the [[Ordre national du Mérite]].<ref name="jorf19961115">
{{Cite journal|date=15 November 1996|title=Ordre national du Mérite Décret du 14 novembre 1996 portant promotion et|url=http://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/WAspad/UnTexteDeJorf?numjo=PREX9612403D|journal=[[Journal Officiel de la République Française|JORF]]|volume=1996|issue=266|page=16667|id=PREX9612403D|access-date=2009-04-05}}</ref>
*[[Lycée Français J. M. G. Le Clézio]] in [[Port Vila]], [[Vanuatu]] is named after him.


==References==
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{Reflist|2}}

{{Translation/Ref|fr|Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clézio}}
==Further reading==
;Critical works
* Jennifer R. Waelti-Walters, ''J.M.G. Le Clézio'', Boston, Twayne, " Twayne's World Authors Series " 426, 1977.
* Jennifer R. Waelti-Walters, ''Icare ou l'évasion impossible'', éditions Naaman, Sherbrooke, Canada, 1981.
* Bruno Thibault, Sophie Jollin-Bertocchi, ''J.M.G. Le Clézio: Intertextualité et interculturalité'', Nantes, Editions du Temps, 2004.
* Bruno Thibault, Bénédicte Mauguière, '' J.M.G. Le Clézio, la francophonie et la question coloniale'', Nouvelles Etudes Francophones, numéro 20, 2005.
* Keith Moser, ''"Privileged moments" in the novels and short stories of J.M.G. Le Clézio'', Edwin Mellen Press, 2008.
* Bruno Thibault, Claude Cavallero (eds), ''Contes, nouvelles & Romances'', Les Cahiers Le Clézio, vol. 2, Paris, 2009.
* Bruno Thibault, ''J.M.G. Le Clézio et la métaphore exotique'', Amsterdam/New York, Rodopi, 2009.
* Isabelle Roussel-Gillet, ''J.M.G. Le Clézio, écrivain de l'incertitude'', Ellipses, 2011.
* Bruno Thibault, Isabelle Roussel-Gillet (eds), ''Migrations et métissages'', Les Cahiers Le Clézio, vol. 3–4, 2011.
* Keith Moser, ''JMG Le Clézio, A Concerned Citizen of the Global Village'', Lexington Books, 2012.
* Bruno Thibault, Keith Moser, ''J.M.G. Le Clézio dans la forêt des paradoxes'', Paris, Editions de l'Harmattan, 2012.


==External links==
==External links==
{{Portal|Literature|Novels|Children's literature}}
{{Wikiquote|fr:Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clézio}}
*{{Commons category-inline|Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clézio}}
*{{worldcat id|id=lccn-n50-39803}}
*{{Wikiquote-inline|J. M. G. Le Clézio}}
*[http://kirjasto.sci.fi/leclezio.htm J.M.G. Le Clézio (1940-)], Biography, from `Books and Writers`.
*[http://sam-network.org/SAMLiterature/video/VID_50c9b917b48bd59b75223e36 Great interview with J. M. G. Le Clezio and all linked resources on the video encyclopedia SAM Network]
*[http://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/en/france_159/label-france_2554/label-france-issues_2555/label-france-no.-45_3724/literature_3732/interview-with-jean-marie-clezio_5092.html Interview with Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clézio], in ''[[Label France]]'' No. 45 (English)
* {{Books and Writers |id=leclezio |name=J. M. G. Le Clézio}}
*French Writer Wins Nobel Prize, [http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/10/books/10nobel.html?ref=world New York Times]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20081222193640/http://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/en/france_159/label-france_2554/label-france-issues_2555/label-france-no.-45_3724/literature_3732/interview-with-jean-marie-clezio_5092.html Interview with Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clézio], in ''[[Label France]]'' No. 45 (English)
*[http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/the_tls/article4914236.ece "J. M. G. Le Clézio, Nobel laureate"]: A collection of pieces on Le Clézio, from [http://www.the-tls.co.uk TLS], October 9 2008.
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20100412063506/http://www.mathieu-bourgois.com/photos-auteur.asp?Clef=823 J.M.G Le Clézio ]—Photos by Mathieu Bourgois.
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20081022203732/http://www.agencebretagnepresse.com/fetch.php?id=12477 J.M.G. Le Clézio], about his Breton origins.
*[https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/09/AR2008100900243.html "Nobel Goes Global With Literary Prize"], by Bob Thompson, ''[[Washington Post]]'', 10 October 2008
*[https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB122532947829282765 "A Nobel Undertaking: Getting to Know Le Clézio "], by Richard Woodward, ''[[Wall Street Journal]]'', 30 October 2008
*[http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/the_tls/article4914236.ece "J. M. G. Le Clézio, Nobel laureate"]: a collection of pieces on Clézio, from [http://www.the-tls.co.uk TLS], 9 October 2008
*[https://www.theguardian.com/books/gallery/2008/oct/09/nobel.prize.le.clezio A writing life in pictures: Nobel laureate Jean-Marie Le Clézio], ''[[The Guardian]]'', 9 October 2008
*[http://www.artelittera.com Artelittera] Many chapters of studies about Le Clezio to upload
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20110608071341/http://www.yementimes.com/defaultdet.aspx?SUB_ID=28597 J.M.G. Le Clézio: A French NovelistWins 2008 Nobel Prize for Literature]
*[http://www.godine.com David R. Godine, Publisher]
* {{Nobelprize|name=Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clézio}}
*[http://noblib.internet-box.ch/NLEW.php?authorid=127 List of Works]


{{J. M. G. Le Clézio}}
{{Navboxes
|title= Awards received by J. M. G. Le Clézio
|list1=
{{Nobel Prize in Literature Laureates 2001-2025}}
{{Nobel Prize in Literature Laureates 2001-2025}}
{{2008 Nobel Prize winners}}
{{Prix Renaudot}}
}}
{{Nobel Prize in Literature}}
{{Stig Dagerman Prize winners}}
{{Authority control}}


{{DEFAULTSORT:Le Clezio, Jean-Marie Gustave}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Le Clezio, J. M. G.}}
[[Category:1940 births]]
[[Category:1940 births]]
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[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:People from Nice]]
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[[Category:Alumni of the University of Bristol]]
[[Category:French people of British descent]]
[[Category:Côte d'Azur University alumni]]
[[Category:French travel writers]]
[[Category:French expatriates in Nigeria]]
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[[Category:French expatriates in the United States]]
[[Category:French male novelists]]
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[[Category:French travel writers]]
[[Category:Grand prix Jean Giono recipients]]
[[Category:Mauritian Nobel laureates]]
[[Category:Mauritian people of French descent]]
[[Category:Nobel laureates in Literature]]
[[Category:Nobel laureates in Literature]]
[[Category:People from Albuquerque, New Mexico]]
[[Category:Officers of the Legion of Honour]]
[[Category:Officers of the Ordre national du Mérite]]

[[Category:Writers from Nice]]
[[ar:جان ماري غوستاف لو كليزيو]]
[[Category:Postmodern writers]]
[[br:Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clézio]]
[[Category:Prix Renaudot winners]]
[[ca:Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clézio]]
[[Category:University of Provence alumni]]
[[cs:Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clézio]]
[[Category:Writers from Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur]]
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[[fr:Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clézio]]
[[ko:장마리 귀스타브 르 클레지오]]
[[it:Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clézio]]
[[he:ז'אן-מארי גוסטאב לה קלזיו]]
[[ka:ჟან-მარი გუსტავ ლეკლეზიო]]
[[ht:Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clezio]]
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[[zh:让-玛丽·古斯塔夫·勒克莱齐奥]]

Latest revision as of 06:20, 16 May 2024

J. M. G. Le Clézio
Le Clézio in 2008
Le Clézio in 2008
BornJean-Marie Gustave Le Clézio
(1940-04-13) 13 April 1940 (age 84)
Nice, France
OccupationWriter
Period1963–present
GenreNovel, short story, essay, translation
SubjectExile, migration, childhood, ecology
Notable worksLe Procès-Verbal, Désert
Notable awardsNobel Prize in Literature
2008

Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clézio (French: [ʒɑ̃ maʁi ɡystav klezjo]; 13 April 1940), usually identified as J. M. G. Le Clézio, of French and Mauritian nationality, is a writer and professor. The author of over forty works, he was awarded the 1963 Prix Renaudot for his novel Le Procès-Verbal and the 2008 Nobel Prize in Literature for his life's work, as an "author of new departures, poetic adventure and sensual ecstasy, explorer of a humanity beyond and below the reigning civilization".[1]

Biography[edit]

Le Clézio's mother was born in the French Riviera city of Nice, his father on the island of Mauritius (which was a British possession, but his father was ethnically Breton, in France). Both his father's and his mother's ancestors were originally from Morbihan, on the south coast of Brittany.[2] His paternal ancestor François Alexis Le Clézio fled France in 1798 and settled with his wife and daughter on Mauritius, which was then a French colony but would soon pass into British hands. The colonists were allowed to maintain their customs and use the French language. Le Clézio has never lived in Mauritius for more than a few months at a time, but he has stated that he regards himself both as a Frenchman and a Mauritian.[3][4] He has dual French and Mauritian citizenship (Mauritius gained independence in 1968) and calls Mauritius his "little fatherland".[5][6]

Le Clézio was born in Nice, his mother's native city, during World War II when his father was serving in the British Army in Nigeria.[7] He was raised in Roquebillière, a small village near Nice until 1948 when he, his mother, and his brother boarded a ship to join his father in Nigeria. His 1991 novel Onitsha is partly autobiographical. In a 2004 essay, he reminisced about his childhood in Nigeria and his relationship with his parents.

After studying at the University of Bristol in England from 1958 to 1959,[8] Le Clézio finished his undergraduate degree at Nice's Institut d'études littéraires.[9] In 1964 Le Clézio earned a master's degree from the University of Provence with a thesis on Henri Michaux and the mystical experience.[10]

After several years spent in London and Bristol, Le Clézio moved to the United States to work as a teacher. In 1967 he served as an aid worker in Thailand as part of his national service, but was quickly expelled from the country for protesting against child prostitution and sent to Mexico to finish his national service. From 1970 to 1974, he lived with the Embera-Wounaan tribe in Panama. He has been married since 1975 to Jémia Jean, who is Moroccan, and has three daughters (one by his first marriage with Rosalie Piquemal). Since the 1990s they have divided their residence between Albuquerque, Mauritius, and Nice.[11]

In 1983 Le Clézio wrote a doctoral thesis on colonial Mexican history for the University of Perpignan, on the conquest of the Purépecha people who inhabit the present-day state of Michoacán. It was serialized in a French magazine and published in Spanish in 1985.[12]

Le Clézio has taught at a number of universities around the world. A frequent visitor to South Korea, he taught French language and literature at Ewha Womans University in Seoul during the 2007 academic year.[13][14] In November 2013, Le Clézio joined Nanjing University in China as a professor.[15]

Literary career[edit]

LE Clézio began writing at the age of seven; his first work was a book about the sea. He achieved success at the age of 23, when his first novel, Le Procès-Verbal (The Interrogation), was the Prix Renaudot and was shortlisted for the Prix Goncourt.[6] Since then he has published more than thirty-six books, including short stories, novels, essays, two translations on the subject of Native American mythology, and several children's books.

From 1963 to 1975, Le Clézio explored themes such as insanity, language, nature, and writing. He devoted himself to formal experimentation in the wake of such contemporaries as Georges Perec or Michel Butor. His persona was that of an innovator and a rebel, for which he was praised by Michel Foucault and Gilles Deleuze.

During the late 1970s, Le Clézio's style changed drastically; he abandoned experimentation, and the mood of his novels became less tormented as he used themes like childhood, adolescence, and travelling, which attracted a broader audience. In 1980, Le Clézio was the first winner of the newly created Grand Prix Paul Morand, awarded by the Académie Française, for his novel Désert.[16] In 1994, a survey conducted by the French literary magazine Lire showed that 13 per cent of the readers considered him to be the greatest living French-language writer.[17]

Nobel Prize[edit]

Horace Engdahl announces Le Clézio winning the Nobel Prize for Literature on 9 October 2008

The Nobel Prize in Literature for 2008 went to Le Clézio for works characterized by the Swedish Academy as being "poetic adventure and sensual ecstasy" and for being focused on the environment, especially the desert.[1] The Swedish Academy, in announcing the award, called Le Clézio an "author of new departures, poetic adventure and sensual ecstasy, explorer of a humanity beyond and below the reigning civilization."[18] Le Clézio used his Nobel prize acceptance lecture to attack the subject of information poverty.[19] The title of his lecture was Dans la forêt des paradoxes ("In the forest of paradoxes"), a title he attributed to Stig Dagerman.[20]

Gao Xingjian, a Chinese émigré writing in Mandarin, was the previous French citizen to receive the prize (for 2000); Le Clézio was the first French-language writer to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature since Claude Simon for 1985, and the fourteenth since Sully Prudhomme, laureate of the first prize of 1901.

Controversy[edit]

Le Clézio is a staunch defender of Mama Rosa, director of a Mexican shelter raided by the police in July 2014 when children were found eating rotten food and kept against the will of their parents. He wrote an article in Le Monde arguing that she is close to sanctity.[21]

Bibliography[edit]

Novels[edit]

Short stories and novellas[edit]

Non-fiction[edit]

Travel diaries[edit]

Collections translated by the author into French[edit]

Books for children[edit]

Books written by other authors with preface written by Le Clézio[edit]

See also: J. M. G. Le Clézio bibliography.

Awards and honors[edit]

Awards[edit]

Year Prize Work
1963 prix Théophraste-Renaudot Le Procès-Verbal (The Interrogation)
1972 prix littéraire Valery-Larbaud For his complete works[26]
1980 Grand prix de littérature Paul-Morand,
awarded by the Académie française
1997 Jean Giono Prize[27] Poisson d'or
1998 prix Prince-de-Monaco For his complete works and upon publication of Poisson d'or[28]
2008 Stig Dagermanpriset[29][30] for his complete works and upon publication of Swedish translation of a travelogue Raga. Approche du continent invisible[31]
2008 Nobel Prize in Literature

Honours[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b "The Nobel Prize in Literature 2008". Nobelprize.org. Retrieved 9 October 2008.
  2. ^ Tahourdin, Adrian (21 April 2006). "A Frenchman and a Geographer". 5th paragraph. London: review is taken from the TLS. Retrieved 9 December 2008. "Le Clézio's family were originally from Morbihan on the west coast of Brittany. At the time of the Revolution, one of his ancestors, who had refused to enlist in the Revolutionary Army because they had insisted he cut his long hair, fled France intending to reach India, but disembarked on Mauritius, and stayed there
  3. ^ "Internet might have stopped Hitler". comcast.net. 7 December 2008. Archived from the original on 9 December 2008. Retrieved 12 December 2008. Though he was born in France, Le Clézio's father is British and he holds dual nationality with Mauritius, where his family has roots
  4. ^ "A Frenchman and a geographer". Adrian Tahourdin. London: The Times Literary Supplement. 21 April 2006. Retrieved 11 December 2008. "Le Clezio regards himself as Franco-Mauritian
  5. ^ Angelique Chrisafis (10 October 2008). "Nobel award restores French literary pride". The Guardian. London. He has joint Mauritian citizenship and calls the island his "little fatherland
  6. ^ a b Bremner, Charles (9 October 2008). "Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clezio wins the 2008 Nobel Literature Prize". Times Online. London. Retrieved 9 October 2008. Le Clézio, who was born in Nice and has lived in England, New Mexico and South Korea, said that he was touched by the honour. He mentioned his British father, a surgeon, and his childhood in Mauritius and Nigeria. "I was born of a mix, like many people currently in Europe," he said.
  7. ^ della Fazia Amoia, Alba; Alba Amoia; Bettina Liebowitz (2009). Multicultural Writers Since 1945. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Publishing Group. pp. 313–318. ISBN 978-0-313-30688-4.
  8. ^ "Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clézio wins Nobel Prize". University of Bristol. 10 October 2008. Retrieved 7 November 2008.
  9. ^ MBA-unice.edu Archived 8 August 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  10. ^ Marshall, Bill; Cristina Johnston. France and the Americas. ABC-CLIO, 2005. ISBN 1-85109-411-3. p.697
  11. ^ Pollard, Niklas; Estelle Shirbon (9 October 2008). "Nomadic writer wins Nobel prize". International Herald Tribune. Retrieved 9 October 2008.
  12. ^ Le Clézio, La Conquista divina de Michoacán. Fondo de Cultura Económica
  13. ^ Lee Esther (2 January 2008). "Acclaimed French author praises Korean literature". JoongAng Daily.
  14. ^ Yonhap News (9 October 2008). 한국과 각별한 인연 가진 르클레지오. Dong-a Ilbo (in Korean). Archived from the original on 11 December 2008.
  15. ^ "Nobel Laureate Le Clézio Officially Joins Nanjing University". 6 November 2013. Archived from the original on 2 August 2020. Retrieved 27 May 2019.
  16. ^ Tahourdin, Adrian (21 April 2006). "A Frenchman and a geographer". 5th paragraph. London: review is taken from the TLS. Retrieved 9 December 2008. "Le Clezio received the Academie Francaise's Grand Prix Paul Morand in 1980 for Desert, a novel that revealed a move towards a more expansive and lyrical style. The book has a dual narrative. The first, dated 1909–10, chronicles the tragic fate of a Tuareg clan fleeing across Morocco from their French and Spanish colonial oppressors ("les chrétiens")".
  17. ^ "Maurice : Source d'Inspiration pour le Prix Nobel de Littérature, Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clézio (Lire, "Le Clézio N° 1" , 1994, 22s. )". Portail Ocean Indie (in French). modéré par CEDREFI. 14 October 2008. Archived from the original on 4 November 2012. Retrieved 12 December 2008. Prix du plus grand écrivain francophone du magazine Lire{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  18. ^ Thompson, Bob (9 October 2008). "France's Le Clézio Wins Nobel Literature Prize". The Washington Post. Retrieved 9 October 2008.
  19. ^ Lea, Richard (8 December 2008). "Le Clézio uses Nobel lecture to attack information poverty". London: guardian.co.uk home. Retrieved 14 December 2008.
  20. ^ The Nobel Foundation 2008 (7 December 2008). "The Nobel Foundation 2008". Nobel Lecture. The Nobel Foundation 2008. Retrieved 11 December 2008.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  21. ^ JMG Le Clézio (24 July 2014). "Foyer de l'horreur au Mexique : plaidoyer pour " Mama Rosa " par JMG Le Clézio". Le Monde.
  22. ^ "AGNI Online: Pawana by J. M. G. Le Clézio". 12 October 2008. Archived from the original on 12 October 2008. Retrieved 27 September 2023.
  23. ^ Clezio, J M G Le (Spring 2002). "On reading as true travel". World Literature Today. 76 (2): 103–106. doi:10.2307/40157273. JSTOR 40157273. Gale A90307339.
  24. ^ Le Clézio, J. M. G.; Schoolcraft, Ralph (1997). "Freedom to Dream". World Literature Today. 71 (4): 671–674. doi:10.2307/40153284. JSTOR 40153284.
  25. ^ Le Clézio, J. M. G. (1997). "Freedom to Speak". World Literature Today. 71 (4): 675–677. doi:10.2307/40153285. JSTOR 40153285.
  26. ^ "Prix Valery Larbaud". Prix littéraires. 2009. Archived from the original on 4 March 2010. Retrieved 16 February 2009. Pour l'ensemble de son oeuvre
  27. ^ "Prix Jean Giono" (in French). Fondation Pierre Bergé – Yves Saint Laurent. 2009. Archived from the original on 5 January 2009. Retrieved 16 February 2009."Grand Prix Jean Giono". Prix littéraires. 2009. Archived from the original on 16 August 2016. Retrieved 16 February 2009.
  28. ^ pour l'ensemble de son œuvre, à l'occasion de la sortie de Poisson d'or 2008
  29. ^ Jarlsbo, Jeana (24 October 2008). "Ljusgestalt i ondskans tid". SvD (in Swedish). Retrieved 27 October 2012.
  30. ^ "Fransman får Stig Dagermanpriset". gd.se (in Swedish). 4 June 2008. Retrieved 27 October 2012.[permanent dead link]
  31. ^ "Ritournelle de la faim – Jean-Marie-Gustave Le Clézio". Ses Prix et Récompenses (in French). ciao.fr. 2008. Retrieved 16 February 2009. pour l'ensemble de son œuvre, à l'occasion de la sortie suédoise de Raga. Approche du continent invisible
  32. ^ "Décret du 31 décembre 2008 portant promotion et nomination". JORF. 2009 (1): 15. 1 January 2009. PREX0828237D. Retrieved 5 April 2009.
  33. ^ "Simone Veil, Zidane et Lagardère décorés". C.M. (lefigaro.fr) avec AFP (in French). lefigaro.fr. 1 January 2009. Retrieved 14 April 2009. Le Clézio est pour sa part élevé au grade d'officier
  34. ^ "Ordre national du Mérite Décret du 14 novembre 1996 portant promotion et". JORF. 1996 (266): 16667. 15 November 1996. PREX9612403D. Retrieved 5 April 2009.

Further reading[edit]

Critical works
  • Jennifer R. Waelti-Walters, J.M.G. Le Clézio, Boston, Twayne, " Twayne's World Authors Series " 426, 1977.
  • Jennifer R. Waelti-Walters, Icare ou l'évasion impossible, éditions Naaman, Sherbrooke, Canada, 1981.
  • Bruno Thibault, Sophie Jollin-Bertocchi, J.M.G. Le Clézio: Intertextualité et interculturalité, Nantes, Editions du Temps, 2004.
  • Bruno Thibault, Bénédicte Mauguière, J.M.G. Le Clézio, la francophonie et la question coloniale, Nouvelles Etudes Francophones, numéro 20, 2005.
  • Keith Moser, "Privileged moments" in the novels and short stories of J.M.G. Le Clézio, Edwin Mellen Press, 2008.
  • Bruno Thibault, Claude Cavallero (eds), Contes, nouvelles & Romances, Les Cahiers Le Clézio, vol. 2, Paris, 2009.
  • Bruno Thibault, J.M.G. Le Clézio et la métaphore exotique, Amsterdam/New York, Rodopi, 2009.
  • Isabelle Roussel-Gillet, J.M.G. Le Clézio, écrivain de l'incertitude, Ellipses, 2011.
  • Bruno Thibault, Isabelle Roussel-Gillet (eds), Migrations et métissages, Les Cahiers Le Clézio, vol. 3–4, 2011.
  • Keith Moser, JMG Le Clézio, A Concerned Citizen of the Global Village, Lexington Books, 2012.
  • Bruno Thibault, Keith Moser, J.M.G. Le Clézio dans la forêt des paradoxes, Paris, Editions de l'Harmattan, 2012.

External links[edit]