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Elitza Gueorguieva |
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Prix SGDL André Dubreuil du premier roman 2016
« Ton grand-père est communiste. Un vrai, te dit-on plusieurs fois et tu comprends qu’il y en a aussi des faux. C’est comme avec les Barbie et les baskets Nike, qu’on peut trouver en vrai uniquement si on possède des relations de très haut niveau. Les tiennes sont fausses… » |
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Ce premier roman a trouvé le ton elliptique et malicieux pour conjuguer l’univers intérieur de l’enfance avec les bouleversements de la grande Histoire. Grâce à la naïveté fantasque de sa jeune héroïne, Les cosmonautes ne font que passer donne à voir comment le politique pénètre la vie des individus, détermine leurs valeurs, imprègne leurs rêves, et de quelle manière y résister.
The novel plunges us into communist Bulgaria in the late ’80s. Through the eyes of a little girl of seven, we discover the daily reality of the dictatorship. Fascinated by Yuri Gagarin and the Soviet conquest of space her grandfather (an exemplary communist) boasts about, the girl finds her secret mission: to become a space heroine. But the fall of the Berlin Wall puts a damper on these childish fancies, and she becomes increasingly disillusioned as she discovers what is really beneath it all. A few years later, the time of “democratic transition” has come. As sex shops spring up all over the neighborhood, we find the teenage girl in the throes of her own adolescent transition. Ever since she heard Nirvana on a radio broadcasts from the West, her vision of the world has changed.
This first novel found the elliptical and malicious tone to combine the inner world of childhood with the upheavals of great historical moments. Thanks to the whimsical naivety of its heroine, Les cosmonautes ne font que passer gives shows how the the political penetrates the life of individuals, determines their values, permeates their dreams, and how it can be resisted.
“With this comedy midway between « Zazie dans le métro » and « Good Bye, Lenin ! », Elitza Gueorguieva has invented a hilarious and fanciful first novel. Prepare for immediate take off !” (Les Inrockuptibles) |
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