Even before Annie Ernaux received the Nobel Prize for Literature last fall, her German publisher had published translations of her extensive work in succession. A new translation has been published every year since 2017, and anyone who has read one or more of these books during this time is familiar with some of Ernaux’s life circumstances, which provide the material for her autobiographical texts, as well as with her concise style. Her books always return to her parents, who ran a grocery store with a bar attached. In doing so, they enabled their daughter to study, which opened up a life for her as a teacher and also as an author. The painful separation from her background through so-called educational advancement, class resentment and its effects on all areas of life, including sexuality, are among Ernaux’s central themes.
Annie Ernaux: “The Empty Closets”: Debut of the Nobel Prize winner for literature – Culture
