Marguerite Yourcenar and the USA: From Prophecy to Protest; With a Previously Unpublished Interview of Marguerite Yourcenar by T. D. Allman

Although Marguerite Yourcenar (1903-1987) lived in the US for almost fifty years and became an American citizen in 1947, few people understand the influence her experiences in the United States had on her work. Bioographers, critics and scholars have wrongly imagined she was untouched by her life in America-that she was untouched by her life in America-that she remained French to the core, linguistically isolated, culturally "pure", that she never took an interest in the country where she lived for half her life. Drawing on Yourcenar's fiction and non-fiction works as well as on her voluminous archives at Harvard's Houghton Library, this innovative analysis sheds new light on Yourcenar's American inspirations and influences. A previouslly unreleased interview of Marguerite Yourcenar by the American jouranalist T. D. Allman, a letter from Marguerite Yourcenar Written in English, an amazing photograph from Life magazine, and entries from her companion Grace Frick's diaries are among the documents, mostly previously unpublished, which bring to life the American side of Yourcenar's literature. This study also reveals that Marguerite Yourcenar, far from being limited to French, had an outstanding mastery of the English language. It shows how, thanks to her understanding of America and its language, she became an authentic heir to a long and vivid American tradition.

This is a very welcome contribution to the debate on the real effect of the United States on Yourcenar'slife and thought, a good read on a fascinating subject which critics have often treated dimissively. Future scholarship will be obliged to weigh Berengere Deprez's arguments and evidence seriously, and thank her for her clearheaded thoroughness. Prof. Brian Gill, University of Calgary, Canada

The Yourcenar collection aims to provide its readership with up to date information about current research in the area. Of interest both to specialists and to the general reader, its publications include monographs, volumes of essays, conference proceedings and studies based on doctoral research. The collection encourages interdisciplinary approaches and publishes work in French and in English. The editors of the collection are Dr. Francesed Counihan (National University of Ireland, Maynooth) and Dr Berengere Deptes (University Catholipa de Louvain).

Berengere Deprez is the author of numerous articles on Marguerite Yourcenar and of one book, Marguerite Yourcenar, Ecriture, maternite, demiurgie (PIE Peter Lang, 2003). She is a member of the Board of the Societe internationale d'etudes yourcenariennes (SIEY) and of the Centre international de documentation Marguerite Yourcenar (CIDMY). This book is the result of a one-year Fulbright Post-Doctoral Fellowship in the Department of Romance Languages and Literatures at Harvard University in 2007.