The Enduring Memory

by Françoise Zonabend

English, French (translation)

Genres: Anthropology

Paperback

First published January 1, 1980

Reviews

[Kathy KS · Rating 2 out of 5]

I originally decided to read this nonfiction study in order to better understand my grandmother's childhood in France, before she migrated as a pre-teen to the U.S. in 1911. The main differences I knew before I began reading were that my grandmother lived in a small mountain village in the coal mining area of southern France, while this book is about a village that is more flatland and agricultural in Burgundy.

But I did receive some insights into my grandmother! Not only could I better relate to some of the few childhood stories she shared, I also recognized certain folk sayings and beliefs, as well as the fact that she didn't waste anything and mended/fixed things rather than throwing them out. (What we know often call a "depression era attitude" has been our family for much longer!)

I can't say I found this study riveting, but I did discover things about village life in this era for France. Please remember that the book was first published in 1980, so "technological advances" for that period have been far bypassed, I'm sure. I was left with a rather depressing view of the village Minot; however, I remember my grandmother as much more upbeat. That could be because of individual personality, the fact that her teen years on were spent in a small U.S. city in Kansas containing a sizable French population (at that time, at least), or the fact that she lived with my Swedish grandfather... a man with a definite mischievous, yet hard-working, personality.

I sometimes wondered if part of the tone of the book was a result of the English translation of an original French title, but someone who could read both with have to make that determination.