Secondary Characters in Contemporary Literature

On June 11, I presented work in progress at the study day Le personnage secondaire dans la littérature contemporaine [The Secondary Character in Contemporary Literature], held at the Maison de la littérature in Québec City. Organized by Robert Dion and Andrée Mercier, with the collaboration of Manon Auger, Alexandre Larouche, and Annie Talbot, the event brought together scholars working on the renewed narrative, ethical, and political significance of secondary characters in contemporary literature.  My paper, entitled “‘Cette mort n’est pas la vôtre’ : les personnages de victime dans Marseille 73 (2020) de Dominique Manotti” examined Maghrebi victim characters not as a passive or merely functional figure in crime fiction, but as a character type with strong political and narrative potential. I explored how Manotti’s crime novel, Marseille 73, reworks character hierarchy by giving marginal and victimized figures a central role in exposing violence in postcolonial France.