In December 1919, French author Marcel Proust won the Prix Goncourt for A l’ombre des jeunes filles en fleur (In the Shadow of Young Girls in Flowers), the second volume of his seven-volume magnum opus: A la recherche du temps perdu (In Search of Lost Time). This French literary award still quite young, having granted its first laureate in 1903, follows the detailed guidelines outlined in Edmond de Goncourt’s will. A talented writer himself, Edmond aimed to memorialize his life and work, as well as those of his younger brother and collaborator, Jules de Goncourt, by establishing a literary prize that would celebrate “the most imaginative prose work of the year” (quoted from Edmond de Goncourt’s will, my translation). Proust, an admirer of the Goncourt brothers, would later include a pastiche of their Journal in the final volume of the Recherche.

Proust’s receipt of the Prix Goncourt proved rather controversial, as many in the Parisian literary world at this time were disappointed that Roland Dorgelès’s Les Croix de bois was outvoted six to four by the members of the Goncourt Academy. Indeed, this accolade provoked an outpour of reactions, both positive and negative. Proust, himself, claimed to have received near 1000 letters on the subject. If we believe the adage, “any press is good press,” this attention certainly contributed to Proust’s rise to literary stardom. Of course, it’s Proust own genius that has placed him in the category of one of the best authors of the 20^th Century, not to mention the fact that he is one of the few Goncourt recipients to obtain and retain international prominence. One hundred years after this extraordinary event, January 2020 presents an opportune time to review and investigate both the immediate and subsequent effects of this award on Proust, his work, and the public’s perception of this world-renowned author.

Throughout 2019 scholars are honoring the centennial of the publication of A l’ombre des jeunes filles en fleur as well as Proust’s receipt of the Prix Goncourt. This panel aims to contribute to this scholarship, while also considering what these very commemorations imply about the role of this prestigious award in contemporary reception of Proust’s work. In fact, one of our panelists will be presenting her paper on a 10-day celebration of Proust’s award entitled “Printemps Proustian” or Proustian Springtime, taking place in May 2019 in France. Additionally, we will have a digital humanist explain how Proust’s work changed and did not change after receiving the award, using multiple digital tools for textual analysis. Moreover, I am not aware of other events focusing on Proust’s Prix Goncourt in the U.S. This panel is thus a timely investigation, using modern techniques, of an iconic work as it relates to a long-standing literary award and, more globally speaking, literary culture in France today.

Each panelist will speak 15 minutes or less in order to reserve at least 15 minutes for Q&A and discussion with the audience members.

Pascal Ifri will open the panel with a presentation on Proust’s correspondence connected to the Prix Goncourt. As mentioned above, the author claimed to have received almost a thousand letters on the topic, consequently leaving researchers a plethora of epistles to study. Ifri will describe the extent to which Proust was sensitive to the range of reactions, both positive and negative, to this accolade, and how he constructed his responses to the numerous missives. According to Ifri, Proust’s letters on the topic prove to be works of art in their own right. This review of Proust’s style will prepare our audience for the following presentation on the very text that earned him the award.

Maury Bruhn’s study will compare the Goncourt brothers’ aesthetic philosophy described in their text L’art du XVIIIe siècle (French Eighteenth Century Painters) with Proust’s own visual aesthetics as illustrated in certain passages in A l’ombre des jeunes filles en fleurs. Specifically, she will argue that Proust’s essay “Chardin & Rembrandt” builds on the Goncourt brothers’ interpretations of French painter Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin’s work, and that both are reflected in scenes from the award-winning book. While Bruhn’s discussion of visual art sets the stage for the next presentation on the content and style of la Recherche, her conclusions regarding the importance for the laureate to be linked to the Goncourt brothers will echo Ifri’s talk on Proust’s deep gratitude for the award.

Katherine Elkins will present her research using four different digital tools to analyze shifts in Proust’s style, thematic content, and narrative arc before and after receiving the Prix Goncourt. She will explain that while his style remains uniquely and consistently ‘his’ over time, she has identified significant changes regarding the content of the novel as well as its narrative trajectory. After enlightening the audience on her collaborative work with colleague, Jon Chun, to discern these remarkable modifications in the book after 1919, Elkins will contextualize this data with qualitative information to help explain and understand these differences. This discussion of digital analysis correlates fittingly to the final presentation on contemporary perceptions of Proust and the Prix Goncourt.

Adeline Soldin will focus her presentation on the public’s opinion of Proust after receiving the Prix Goncourt. She will start by offering an overview of the public’s immediate and mixed reaction to the Goncourt Academy’s selection, and then examine how it has evolved over the past 100 years to result in a ten-day celebration entitled “Printemps Proustien.” This event, organized by the Academie Goncourt, the French ministry of culture, the French literary magazine, Lire, and local tourist offices, consists of ten days of exhibits, concerts, presentations, performances and guided tours in two neighboring French towns: Chartres and Illiers-Combray, the famous village where Proust spent his childhood vacations. Soldin will attend the Printemps Proustien in May to observe and analyze this massive production to commemorate Proust’s Prix Goncourt. The panel will thus conclude with a deep examination of what the 1919 accolade means today for Proust’s legacy, the Goncourt Academy, and French literary culture.