"All Alexandrias". Europe and the Frontier in Mathias Énard

Abstract

Zone (2008) by Mathias Énard is among the most convincing contemporary historical novels that deal with the conflicts and the geopolitical transformations of the European continent during the XX century. The night train ride made by Francis Servain Mirković acts as a frame as he recalls his memories, a process that brings the story from one side of the Mediterranean (the “zone” which gives its name to the novel) to the other. The article aims to examine the way in which the author tied together the different faces of Europe, whose identity swings between hybridisation and fragmentation. This schizophrenic combination shows itself already in the peculiar blending of Francis’ character: he is the son of a French former soldier who fought in Algeria and of a nationalist Croatian woman. That being said, one of the novel’s major devices is to be found in its voice, which holds the reins of an endless sentence that runs all the way through the novel. Thus, Zone offers a transnational and coherent perspective over the recent European history, akin to the dream (described in the early pages of the text) of a train that links “all the Alexandrias” in the world.