Jean Echenoz's 14: Renewing the Historical Novel - published: 25/07/2026

Extract

[...] This novel is therefore inscribed in a historical reality that is that of the First World War. It is thus that Echenoz delivers the daily life of five characters, conscripts of the Great War, marching for miles without end, the perversity of bombings in the trenches. It should be noted that the novel does not sink into a pathetic tone, which makes it a historical novel. Indeed, the novel is based on authentic and historical elements, conferring a real substance to this novel. [...]

[...] For example, to describe the situation of the women left behind during the war, the author intercuts the war story with the description of the situations experienced by these women. For example, it is in the midst of the war story that one learns of the birth of the child of one of the warriors. This novel is distinguished as a historical novel, particularly by the judicious use of the conditional which allows to express the doubts and conjectures of the different characters. For example by the phrase « The sack did not weigh at first, empty, six hundred grams. [...]

[...] A passage reviews the uniforms used by the soldiers of the French army, whose shiny helmets are 'attractive targets' Parallels are also drawn between the situation of the soldiers and that of the disabled men and women remaining in the villages. Thus, the author compares the sounds of the bombardments with the sound of the footsteps of the villagers. This irony allows the reader to step back from this comparison and to feel how much violence the soldiers have endured. [...]

[...] This irony strips away the procedures of other historical novels that are obsessed with describing a situation that is often pathetic. It is worth noting that this ironic, cynical, and even satirical tone allows the author to convey the absurdity of war itself and to make the reader aware of it. Thus, the author devotes part of his work to describing absurd situations. For example, the list of types of shoes manufactured by the family-owned Borne factory, which has no historical significance in the account of the 1914-18 war. [...]

[...] The author distinguishes himself from the historical novel, in this novel by the way he tells the story of the Great War through the account of the lived experience of the conscripts, but also through a sometimes bitter or ironic tone. Thus, it is relevant to question the process used by Jean Echenoz to renew the historical novel, in a more contemporary form. We will thus see the different writing procedures of the author, in order to then highlight the use of irony in this historical novel, in order to finally show that this book stands as a renewal of the historical novel. [...]