La traduction de la tradition: Le Livre des fantômes de Jean Ray,ou comment donner forme aux spectres de la guerre et de la Bible
TRANSLATING THE TRADITION: JEAN RAY’S LIVRE DES FANTÔMES

Summary/Abstract: In 1947, when Belgian author Jean Ray releases, in the collection “La Résurrection du roman noir” his book Le Livre des fantômes, with the subtitle “Ghost Book”, he seems to pledge allegiance to the Anglo-Saxon tradition of “ghost stories.” The nostalgic tone of the stories, as well as their “intimist” aspect apparently come to confirm this view. This would place the author outside the literary concerns of the time, with an apparent refusal to consider recent events. However, this vow of allegiance is only displayed to better subvert tradition, and update it by lending transhistorical values. As such, Jean Ray blurs the interpretative grids by accumulating some apparently incompatible terms and hypotheses. In doing so, the “full” of tradition leads to a “void”, which is reflected in the inability of the characters to see the essence of things. Thereby reflecting the “modern fantastic” that is starting to make its way in this period, particularly in the tale “La Choucroute” (“The Sauerkraut”), Jean Ray draws in hollow an “already dead” society, unable henceforth to understand all that is spiritual, and focusing consequently on the only physical dimension.

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