Andreï Makine

David Gillespie (University of Bath)
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Andreï Makine was born in Russia (in 1957) but has lived in France since 1987, and writes exclusively in the medium of French. He has thus been fêted in his adopted country as a “French” writer, as recognised in his unprecedented award in 1995 of both the Prix Goncourt and the Prix Médicis. Unlike other linguistic migrants, however (such as, for example, Joseph Conrad), his writing does not engage with his adopted country, but rather remains focused on Russian life and history, especially the Second World War and the ravages of Stalinism. Of his place in the Russian literary canon, Makine wryly notes that he once saw his work in the East European Literature section in a French bookshop: “My first books were there, sandwiched, …

3046 words

Citation: Gillespie, David. "Andreï Makine". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 10 February 2009 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=12319, accessed 29 March 2024.]

12319 Andreï Makine 1 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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