Autobiography, memory and revolutionary commitment in Olivier Rolin’s Tigre en papier [Paper Tiger]

Abstract

The French novels produced in the last 30 years show a great interest in issues of the subject, from forms of lyricism up to biographies, autobiographies and autofictions. In this context we have Tigre en papier [Paper Tiger], by Olivier Rolin (2002a), one of the greatest writers of his generation, twice nominated for the Goncourt prize, who after serving as a militant communist during his youth turns to writing, being the author of a consistent literary production. We intend thus to make an analysis of Tigre en papier, addressing it as a romanticized autobiography of Olivier Rolin’s years of revolutionary political commitment, through which the author reflects on his political activism by the memory of Martin, the narrator of the adventures, who seems to be his alter-ego. In fact, Martin’s memories lead to an individual past that harks back to a larger French historical past and the communist revolutionary struggles in general, in contrast to the current reality of French postindustrial society.