Collection of the Winning Pastiches from the 2022 Competition

The fourth edition of the Proustian pastiche competition, organised by the Société des Amis de Marcel Proust et des Amis de Combray, brought together in 2022 fifty-four texts from a wide range of backgrounds, testifying to the enduring influence of a body of work whose style continues to invite imitation, challenge and admiration. This collection brings together eleven of them — the pastiches awarded prizes in each of the two categories, as well as the texts that received at least two votes during the deliberations — forming a set representative of the creative vitality that Proust's prose still inspires today.

The realisation of this fourth edition was made possible by the generosity of Bruno Roger, whose support allowed the association to continue an initiative that, within a few years, had become an eagerly awaited event for lovers of the Recherche as well as for aspiring stylists eager to test their ear against a singular language.

Overview

In order to recall Marcel Proust's taste for literary pastiche, the Société des Amis de Marcel Proust et des Amis de Combray has organised, every year since 2019, a Proustian pastiche competition. The writer often indulged in this game, notably in 1908–1909, in a series of articles concerning a single news item, the Lemoine Affair, gathered in 1919 in a volume entitled Pastiches et Mélanges. Time Regained, the final volume of In Search of Lost Time, also contains a celebrated pastiche of the Journal des frères Goncourt. Proust's own style has itself often been imitated, notably by André Maurois (Le côté de Chelsea), by Jean-Louis Curtis (La Chine m'inquiète; La France m'épuise), or, more recently, by Marc Lambron, of the Académie française, and by Jacques Drillon.

For this fourth edition, the competition was open in two categories: a general category, with no age restriction, and a category reserved for participants under twenty-five. A formal constraint was imposed on all competitors: the presence, within the body of the text itself, of the phrase "Mort à jamais ? Qui peut le dire ?" ("Dead forever? Who can say?"). The jury was moreover guided in its deliberations by shared criteria: resemblance to Proust's style, originality of the narrative, the quality of the emotions evoked, and rigour of language. Members of the Société in good standing were invited to name their favourite pastiche in each category, thereby giving rise to a members' prize distinct from the jury's prizes.

Authors and Contributors

In the general category, the first prize was awarded to Ulysse Marquet for Brichot remplacé. The second prize went to Viviane Le Mer for L'Ami perdu, and the third prize to Thierry Joffredo for Cottard président ! Four other texts were recognised in this category: La Société des Amis de Bergotte by Patricia Brochier, Les Fantômes de l'écrivain by Jean-Frédéric Coulombel, Souvenir d'une tulipe by Matthieu Carluccio, and Charles Swann, "professeur de beauté" by Frédérique Bertrand.

In the category reserved for participants under twenty-five, the first prize was awarded to Guillaume Johannès for De l'art de digresser. The second prize and the members' prize were jointly awarded to Louise Lavaud for Vicissitudes de la tendresse. Two further pastiches were recognised in this category: Le Fauteuil by Sacha Berrebi and Illuminations nocturnes by Léa Gomez.

The jury, in alphabetical order, was composed of Jérôme Bastianelli, Élyane Dezon-Jones, Emmanuel Glaser, Marc Lambron, of the Académie française, Isabelle Le Masne de Chermont and Éric Unger.

Contents

• Introduction
• General Category — Winners and Distinguished Pastiches
• Under-Twenty-Five Category — Winners and Distinguished Pastiches
• Jury Members
• Competition Rules

Bibliographic Information

• Format: paperback
• ISBN: 978-2-492318-18-4
• Price: 7 €
• Publisher: Société des Amis de Marcel Proust et des Amis de Combray
• Printer: Imprimeries Messages, Toulouse
• Legal deposit: July 2022