Préface

Abstract

The subject chosen for this issue of “Prospero” is ‘history and literature’, a wide and complex topic. Four out of six contributions regard not only French literature but also the so called history “de France”, concentrated on two dramatic events (First and Second World War), and particularly on the “Franco-French” history, since this was the time of the French internal division due to the German occupation. Beyond the chronological development offered by the six articles, History descends among human beings and manifests itself in a series of phenomena which interest primarily the History of Ideas, of sensibilities and mentalities. The essays do not only concern fiction, but the genre of chronicle as well. The authors here illustrate, in their own ways, a “besoin d’histoire”, a kind of moral concern in their confrontation with Chronos.