La figure de l’enfant juif dans l’espace inter- et transdiscursif chez Éric-Emmanuel Schmitt
Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt's figure of the Jewish child in the inter- and transdiscoursive space

Summary/Abstract: Starting from the dichotomy between intertextuality and interdiscursivity, I intend to analyze the figure of the Jewish child in two novels of Éric-Emmanuel Schmitt, Monsieur Ibrahim et les fleurs du Coran and L’enfant de Noé, and in the cinematographic adaptation of the first mentioned novel. After defining the concepts of intertextuality and interdiscursivity and after explaining their characteristics, I study the interdiscursive relations established around the figure of the Jewish child in these two novels. Then, I reflect on the transdiscursive relations that are established between the novel Monsieur Ibrahim et les fleurs du Coran and its cinematographic adaptation. Published in 2001 by Albin Michel, the novel Monsieur Ibrahim et les fleurs du Coran presents the story of a Jewish boy named Moïse and a Muslim, Mr. Ibrahim, who owns a grocery store on the rue Bleue. The screenplay’s movie was written by Éric-Emmanuel Schmitt and François Dupeyron. The character of Moïse is played by Jérémy Sitbon (Moïse at the age of 8), by Pierre Boulanger (the teenager Moïse) and by Éric Caravaca (Moïse at the age of 30). The novel L’enfant de Noé was published by Albin Michel in 2004 and it presents the story of Joseph Bernstein, a Jewish boy whose parents entrust him to the Sully family due to unfavorable circumstances. The figure of the Jewish boy is presented in Schmitt’s social-discursive imaginary in parallel with the Nazi atrocities. In addition to this, in his narrative writings, Schmitt focuses on the spiritual and ethical dimension of the relation between the Jewish boy and his master.

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