A very special article today on the blog: On November 13th, I spoke with the French author Jean Laurent del Socorro, who kindly agreed to be interviewed!
I know this author from his books, but also because I worked with the Reading Club on Morgane Pendragon, his rewriting of the Arthurian legend.
Even if reading in French is not always easy, in my French courses, we work a lot with literature, because culture and language are two halves of the same coin. So I thought it would be super interesting for my students and anyone else to read this interview. We talked about writing of course, but also linguistics, inclusivity, links between History and fiction, and even the Arthurian legend!
I – The author and his inspirations
A question you must often be asked, but what made you want to be a writer?
It's a bit of a coincidence, I mainly had inclinations to be a reader. I had an artistic experience through the theater, I was quickly a director and actor but it lasted very little time, it was more of a training for my personal gain and not really professional.
And then for years I was mainly a reader, of everything and especially fantasy and science fiction; and then I had the opportunity to write a short story that was published. From there, to write a novel I took time, put in place everything that was needed to write and after six months I had a novel that was finished, Kingdom of Wind and Anger which was published six months later. So it happened quite quickly actually.
Why did you choose this genre of historical fantasy?
I am a fan of History, even if I am not at all a specialist or trained in History. I wanted to connect to the imaginary so there is always a touch of fantasy in my stories. I often say that I do historical fantasy! They are historical novels, and there are unexplained or inexplicable elements, but which in fact do not touch History. The rare times when I touch History, I specify it at the end of the text.
There is one exception, Morgane Pendragon which is really a fantasy story. There is a historical setting but it is a setting, we are really in pure fantasy with the Arthurian legend.
Actually, in this novel, we can really feel, at least in my opinion, the spirit of the legend.
The Arthurian legend is complicated, because it is a kind of fantasy. Even historically, we try to place it, but it doesn't work. I place it at the beginning of the 7th century, there is an interest in my opinion which is the arrival of religion which allows it to be confronted with the legend. But for example in the visuals, there are lots of visuals from the 7th century but where they do duels, which do not exist at the time. The principle of knight is not really established at that time either, so it is complicated and we realize that the legend is a layer of fantasies. Each rewriting is a fantasy that is added on top.
This is also what makes the legend so charming!
And also why everyone grabs it! There is always a link that we can hold onto.
And what I also liked in your novel is your way of representing the characters, especially Merlin who is not a nice guy..
Yes, there were two things. The first is exactly that, that is to say that when we talk about Merlin and we state the facts: he organizes a rape. It needs to be said.
And besides, I have written a lot about religious wars, and so Merlin in my novel has a historical dimension: at the end of the Spanish Reconquista when everyone is converted to the Catholic religion, the leaders of other religions are not exiled, they are converted and align themselves with the religion in place. With Merlin, it's the same, he senses that the wind is changing and prepares his future. It would be interesting to have a version that goes all the way in this direction!
And something that surprised me is that in the 21st century there are no television versions or others with female knights, not just one but many, whether they are invented or characters that are genderbent.
It is true that there are not many female characters. And even in the existing characters, for example Morgana, we rarely find her links with the pagan religion. She initially represented this religion, then was demonized as a character at the same time as Christianity expanded, and today she is often ambiguous, even a little rehabilitated.
Yes, there is a reappropriation of the word witch, even socially. It does the character some good. Besides, it was a big question in my text, how to approach this: her element is magic, and the belonging of this magic to a certain Celtic culture already in place. She defends her religion as a somewhat active believer, and it is often reduced to the magical aspect when it goes well beyond that.
What are your sources of inspiration, when do you find your ideas for novels?
Since I always have a source at the beginning, it is “easier” for me, it is “What historical framework do I take?”. I no longer go to the publisher with a book, but with a cycle. For example, Morgane Pendragon is the beginning of a work that is to say that there are three Celtic cycles that I want to rewrite. Morgane is the first, “legend and history coexist, and it goes badly”. The second one that comes out in March 2025, The Lovers of Ragnarök, it is “the end of the myth”. And there will be a third one which will be “the myth is forgotten, what do we do with it?”.
There will be echoes between them but the texts are independent.
II – Linguistics
Obviously, as a French as a foreign language teacher, I attach a lot of importance to words, structures, etc. Is this something you spend a lot of time on?
In proofreading, there is a first work which is that of repetition. When I write for young people, I also work a lot on sounds (alliterations, etc.) because I find that it is easier, I want it to be rhythmic.
An element that is important to me is how we work on the inclusiveness of a text, which is very hard: how we manage to have a style and to nourish it. In Morgane Pendragon, I often double up (chevalières and chevaliers), and I agree with proximity. As I start with the feminine, I agree with the masculine, which allows me not to offend anyone. The same goes for the choice of word chevalière and no chevaleresse, it was a whole adjustment, which happened quite quickly, but which I thought about.
There is another thing that is emblematic, it is the titles. In the cycle for the School of Leisure (publishing house, editor's note), the first one is called Toutes pour Une, it is obviously a feminization of the line " Tous Pour Un (One for all)" taken from the Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas. The second is called Vainqueuse because there is a rehabilitation of the word and in addition we are talking about a woman who wins so we cannot have a more precise word than that, and the third on women pirates will be called Les Soeurs de la Côte, so we are femininizing to reappropriate the expression Brothers of the Coast.
It's not a form of activism, but we're reappropriating something.
So there you have it: how do we re-appropriate the terms and how do we be inclusive without breaking a rhythm, because there can be some heaviness. And then we are forced to not be able to use certain things. I think that 'iel', we can use it more and more, but we cannot use the median point for example without having a bunch of angry people. So today, we cannot use all the tools of the French-speaking world. I think that in thirty years it will have changed, but today we have to play with it. These are really important issues.
III – History and Pop Culture
Do you think it is possible to talk about History through pop culture?
In fact, History must be made less complex. There is always a point of view, an angle, contemporary biases. History is a subject. The most important thing is to know what level of historicity you are looking for and not to betray yourself, and especially not to betray your audience. That is why now at the end of my novels, I make a note to the reader where I tell the truth, for example that I changed the date of a fire.
We can have the historical context (dates for example), when we touch on everyday life there are things that move but we can have the right terms, but when we talk about people, we have to be very humble, we can't imagine what they are going through. I make people speak with a very contemporary aspect, and my characters have contemporary issues.
So of course we can put pop culture, there is no problem as long as we do not mislead our audience. Above all, what is interesting is that it allows us to bring in an audience that is not used to it.
IV – Books and FLE
So last subject, were you aware that your writings could be used in French as a foreign language classes and/or read by readers who are not native French speakers?
So I didn't know at all! For me it's a great recognition, more for the work than for me.
I don't have any literary training, so claiming this literary writing is a bit of a form of consecration, it's saying that there is something in my writing that is worth being interested in. Especially since it's not nothing to use a text, the choice of a medium is essential.
Besides, I think a lot about accessibility. At one time I published free short stories for schoolchildren in France.
For Vainqueuse, the prologue is a real short story, and I asked the publisher to put it in its entirety for download so that teachers can download it. This allows us to offer support and an easily accessible excerpt, which has meaning, so that it is not just an excerpt.
A final word for the blog readers?
Maybe this is exactly it: let people know that there are some of my texts available for free:
– a complete novella published by Albin Michel Imaginaire “Black is the seal of hell”
- THE prologue of Vainqueuse which is a complete news
I also translated a 17th century feminist pamphlet by an English author, Jane Anger. It is available for free on the Argyll Publishing website. It allows you to see my connection with History, I wanted to make this source accessible in French. It is also part of the process, because I know that it is a pain when there are only sources in English.
And that's it for this meeting with Jean Laurent Del Socorro! I hope you enjoyed this somewhat unusual article on the link between French lessons and authors. I strongly invite you to go and see Jean-Laurent's writings and discover his world in more detail. You can find him on Instagram.
And if you want to integrate culture and linguistics into your French practice, I offer both private lessons and reading clubs for students, but also resources for teachers (including boxes of thematic resources, the first on witches by the way – and the next one on the Arthurian legend, how convenient!).
And you, what do you do to read in FLE? What are your favorite books to practice French?
