A Feast of Lamentations

Mavrikakis''s Deuils cannibales et mélancoliques is a fascinating first novel by a professor of French literature. The story'' hovers between fiction and autobiography, though the reader is never sure where one ends and the other begins. Mavrikakis''s subject death and mourning is the extension of her previous academic work, particularly her study of the French author, Hervé Guibert, who wrote a trilogy of novels based on his personal battle with AIDS. Critics responded favourably to Mavrikakis''s new work, praising the superior quality of the author''s writing, the sardonic humour she maintains in the face of all the dying, and her interesting use of cultural allusions that demand familiarity with intellectual and popular icons. This book places Mavrikakis''s work within the context of new and established literary genres: thanatological writing, elegy and plague fiction, and AIDS-infected literature, and specifically, Guibert''s novels. The difficulties and challenges met during the translation process are explored. The English translation of the first half of this remarkable book is included with two excerpts that have special significance to the thrust of Mavrikakis''s fiction.

Autorentext

Kathryn Gabinet-Kroo moved from the United States to Canada after completing her B.A. in English at Cornell University. She has been a professional artist for over thirty years and earned her Master''s Degree in Translation Studies in 2001. She continues to paint but also works as certified translator specializing in literary translation.