Talking about books with his parents and siblings during meals was a great influence in the life of the poet and novelist Bernard Leclaire (b. 1959), as he noted in an interview for the website Île en île: “Nous commencions à manger à midi et demi et nous étions encore à table au dîner à parler littéraire”—click here to read the rest of the section called “Mes influences” from that interview. If only more families had such convivial meals. About three quarters of the way through the autobiographical novel L’ Amant (1984) by Marguerite Duras (1914–1996), the narrator talks of how her abusive older brother turns a meal into a threatening situation for their younger brother, which disgusts her—click here for an English translation of that paragraph, or click here for the French original. A lack of conviviality can be seen also in the painting La salle à manger (1886–7) by Paul Signac (1863–1935). The painter’s mother, grandfather, and housekeeper “coexist at the lunch table in stony silence, a family with no communication,” as described by the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Paul Signac (1863–1935). La salle à manger, Opus 152 (The dining room, Opus 152). Public Domain, WikiArt → https://www.wikiart.org/en/paul-signac/breakfast-the-dining-room . Kröller-Müller Museum, Otterlo, Netherlands → https://krollermuller.nl/en/paul-signac-the-dining-room-opus-152
▀▄▀▄▀▄
References & Suggested Reading
Duras, Marguerite. L’ Amant. Paris: Editions de Minuit, 1984.
Duras, Marguerite, and Rachel Kushner. The Lover, Wartime Notebooks, Practicalities. United States, Everyman’s Library, 2018.
Leclaire, Bernard. “Bernard Leclaire, 5 Questions pour Île en île.” Île en île, 10 August 2010. → http://ile-en-ile.org/bernard-leclaire-5-questions-pour-ile-en-ile/
Signac, Paul. The Dining Room. 1886–87, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. → https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/459240
– – – . La salle à manger, Opus 152 (The dining room, Opus 152). Public Domain, WikiArt. Kröller-Müller Museum, Otterlo, Netherlands. → https://krollermuller.nl/en/paul-signac-the-dining-room-opus-152
