Duras, Marguerite

(1914-1996)

   novelist, playwright, screenwriter, film writer Born Marguerite Dennadieu in French Indochina, Marguerite Duras as she is known, was left in poverty by the death of her father when she was four, leaving her mother struggling to support her and her siblings. In 1930, Duras moved to Paris to study law and government, and soon began publishing. Her memoirs (Une banage contre le Pacifique, 1950) recall the difficult period of her youth and also brought her critical acclaim. several other works, Petits chevaux de Tarquina (1953), Dix heures et demie du soir en été (1960), Le Ravisissement de Lol V. Stein (1964), Le Vice-Consul (1966), and L'Amour (1971) followed, but it was in Moderato Contabile (1958) where her distinctive style that dispensed with traditional narrative structures and plots and focused instead on silences and ambiguity first appeared. In 1959, Duras's career took a new turn when Alain resnais asked her to write the screenplay for his film Hiroshima mon amour. It was similar in style to Moderato Contabile. This screenplay won her worldwide critical acclaim and was followed by others, including Une aussi longue absence (1961). Duras also wrote for and directed other films, Jaune le Soleil (1971), Nathalie Granger (1973), India Song (1974), and Le Camien (1977). Duras's later works include the autobiographical novel L'Amant (prix Goncourt 1984), L'Amant de la Chine du Nord (1991), La pluie d'été (1990), and Yann Andrea Steiner (1992). Her plays include Les Viaducs de Seine-et-Oise (1960), Le Square (1962), Les Eaux et Forêts, LaMusica (1965), and Savannah Bay (1982).