The political and diplomatic Saga of Margaret Thatcher. A Literary note on chapters 8-13 of the book by Jean-Louis Thiériot "Margaret Thatcher: "From the Grocery Store to the House of Lords"
Аннотация: The political and diplomatic Saga of Margaret Thatcher. A Literary note on chapters 8-13 of the book by Jean-Louis Thiériot "Margaret Thatcher: "From the Grocery Store to the House of Lords"
The political and diplomatic Saga of Margaret Thatcher. A Literary note on chapters 8-13 of the book by Jean-Louis Thiériot "Margaret Thatcher: "From the Grocery Store to the House of Lords"
A content of a note:
1. A drawing up of a preliminary text.
2. About biographic techniques.
3. About biographic genres.
4. A new biographical genre - a Biographical Saga.
1. A drawing up of a preliminary text.
After reading almost entirely Jean-Louis Thiériot 's book about Margaret Thatcher, we began to reflect on our impressions. [Jean-Louis Thiériot, Margaret Thatcher, de l'épicerie à la Chambre des Lords] [Жан Луи Тьерио 'Маргарет Тэтчер: От бакалейной лавки до палаты лордов']
The following text emerged as a result of reflection.
'A history will give an assessment of the activities of Margaret Thatcher.
Jean-Louis Thiériot 's book makes a sometimes contradictory impression.
Most of the text is written, as we think, in an academic manner.
At the same time, the book contains many details, comparisons, refinements.
In some cases, the author refers, for example, to unnamed diplomatic sources.
The reader with each line is convinced of the competence of the author.
The picture looks, for a hypothetical reader, as follows.
The author, Jean-Louis Thiériot, watched the political life of Great Britain, the activities of Margaret Thatcher. He has personal knowledge, he has personal opinion.
In addition, he has read many books (partly this assumption, partly an opinion based on the text of the book).
The author talked to the knowing people. A number of these people have confidential information and cannot be named by name.
The overall impression is deep competence.
The reader meets lines about Margaret Thatcher 's memoirs and gets to know the author 's implicit rhetorical question: Margaret Thatcher wrote memoirs on her own, or with the help of literary assistants? ("If Margaret herself is the author of this work, one can say that muses forgot to bow above her cradle. If she called for the help of a "literary Negroes," her choice was extremely unsuccessful!"). [Here and further - the translation from the Russian-language text]
The reader feels a slight confusion, a slight doubt.... "
We pause the presentation, citation of the original text. This text will be continues some later.
After reading various biographies written by various authors, the reader may form an opinion on how a particular biography was prepared.
2. About biographic techniques.
So, what could be said on a 'biographical techniques'?
One author collects all possible literary sources. From information obtained out of these sources he builds a coherent picture. He fills the gaps with the results of his efforts to mentally reconstruct historical reality. It turns out mainly "academic", "scientific" biography.
Another variant. The author herself is a competent person. But in addition, she was lucky. The editorial staff of a major magazine kept a dossier on the historical personality - they made clippings from all (as it was possible, in a maximum scale) newspapers and magazines. Due to a successful set of circumstances for the author, this dossier was transferred to the author. And the author could rely on many details scattered over a variety of publications. Naturally, she also had conversations, studied literary sources. The result is a "media-biography", a "press-biography."
A next version. The author made a bet on a personal conversations. A report, a description after each conversation was compiled. Then the results of the conversations were summarized in a single text and a book was compiled.
What technique did Jean-Louis Thiériot use?
The book, written by Jean-Louis Thiériot, leaves a controversial impression. Was this book written by a scientist who read many books and studied many literary sources?
Was it written by an eyewitness to events, a kind of expert relying on personal information?
Was it written by a skilled interviewer?
The easiest option is to assume that the book was written by a scientist, an expert (eyewitness), and a skilled interviewer.
Nevertheless, the 'scientific', 'academic' biography is characterized by clarity - where did this or that information come from.
3. About biographic genres.
From the topic of 'techniques' we move to the theme of biographical genres.
If the biography is made in a style of a novel (novel-biography), then for this option, an indication of the sources and links to them are not required. The author of a novel-biography, although he is a connoisseur of facts, deliberately 'makes a deal' with the reader about author's right to fantazing.
A novel-biography, usually, is not set out in an academic style. A plot, action, events, artistry are painted with a dramatism ...
There is another option - giving the biography the character of a historical and geographical guide. Such a "guide" is describing a country, a customs, a history together with the main character ... In this version, academicity, a science manner of presentation are combined (in the content) with the fiction, fantazing and the entertainment. Both a science manner and a fantazing are allowed. A science manner of presentation and a entertainments more or less harmoniously coexist.
The moment came to continue and complete the presentation of the original text of the note:
"In our opinion, to the author, Jean-Louis Thiériot, it is necessary to add to a possession of a huge array of information characterizing Margaret Thatcher's activity, an optimum style, optimum stylistics of statement - so that the reader doesn't asks, - he, the reader, is dealing with' scientific ' work, with a novel-biography or with a biographical-historical-local history work, interview-biography, press-biography or with another option. Accordingly, the author will be able to emphasize his personal position as well. Who is he? A man mentally associated with Britain, a sort of British? Frenchman? A Western-European? European? Inhabitant of the Western World? Or, let's say, a philosopher without time and boundaries - suppose, a modern Diogenes? (Now, it seems, the existence in capsules is becoming one of the popular lifestyles ...).
All these reflections cannot cast doubt on the facts that the book contains a huge amount of information characterizing the course of life, the activities of Margaret Thatcher, that this information is presented in chronological order, that the book allows you to learn a lot about the activities of Margaret Thatcher and clarify postulates about her personality and her achievements.
Having compiled this text, we continued reading in order to read the book in its entirety. '
4. A new biographical genre - a Biographical Saga.
And, at last, - 'A words of thanks from the author [from Jean-Louis Thiériot]'.
Very interesting text.
"My first thanks to Sir Keith Joseph, who 'agreed to spend more than a quarter of an hour with me [Jean-Louis Thiériot] and spend this time on explaining to me all the virtues of monetarism during one of receptions at the British Embassy. (...) Indirectly, it was Sir Keith Joseph who inspired me [Jean-Louis Thiériot] to write this book. '
Further the Margaret Thatcher Foundation is following.
The author thanks the 'president [of Margaret Thatcher Foundation] for the quality and abundance of the documentation submitted to me [to Jean-Louis Thiériot]. I would also like to thank many British diplomats and parliamentarians, people who are very busy, but who agreed to talk with me some time.
I [Jean-Louis Thiériot] also thank the French diplomats who worked in London during the reign of Margaret Thatcher. They agreed to accept me and tell me some interesting stories. Due to the need to maintain secrecy, which is prescribed by the diplomatic department, as well as in deference to the high posts that they held before, I prefer not to mention their names. They will recognize themselves. '
Of course, we are not experts in sagas, but intuitively we have come to the conclusion that this is how a sagas are coming to light.
Knowledgeable people exchanged information with each other. An information space, an information field were created. An official (oral) folk creativity.
Then, the creative person absorbed the information circulating among knowledgeable experienced people and gave it an artistic form.
Oral traditions and recallings are transformed into (written) literary works.
We decided to include in the title of our note the words 'Political and Diplomatic Saga of Margaret Thatcher' ...
The reader of a book written by Jean-Louis Thiériot, is intrigued, among other things, by the reference to the story of the adoption of UNSC resolution 502.
'From the very beginning of the crisis, thanks to the talent of the English representative in the United Nations, Sir Anthony Parsons (a diplomat of an old school who had learned the art of diplomacy on the margins of the offices in time of his father and later in the Macmillan government), the UK was able to ensure that the Security Council passed Resolution No. 502 condemning Argentina's aggression . '
A curious episode in the history of diplomacy ...
The book by Jean-Louis Thiériot "Margaret Thatcher: From the Grocery Store to the House of Lords" is a conscientiously written biography that incorporates a wealth of information about Margaret Thatcher's life and political activities.
May 2, 2020 18:45
Translation from Russian into English: May 4, 2020 07:25.
Владимир Владимирович Залесский 'Политико-дипломатическая сага о Маргарет Тэтчер. Литературная заметка о главах 8-13 книги Жана Луи Тьерио 'Маргарет Тэтчер: От бакалейной лавки до палаты лордов''.