Butor, Michel

Variant names

Dates:

Birth 1926-09-14

Nationality: French,

Language: French,

Biographical notes:

French novelist, essayist and poet.

From the description of Conditionnement / by Michel Butor. 19-- (The University of Queensland Library). WorldCat record id: 44841206

Michel Butor, French novelist, essayist and scholar, was born in 1926 in Monsen-Baroeul, Nord, France. He was educated at the Sorbonne in Paris during the 1940s and held teaching positions at a number of European and American universities throughout his academic career. He was an international figure in the development of the contemporary novel as a literary genre. Specifically, Butor expounded the nouveau roman, or 'new novel,' in which novelists sought to change the expectations of readers by ignoring conventions of plot, dialogue and dramatic progress. Butor's novel, La Modification (1957; US title A Change of Heart ) is his best known and most widely accepted successful application of the nouveau roman style. Butor spent two years in Albuquerque, New Mexico, 1969-1970 and 1973-1974. During those academic years, Butor taught French literature at the University of New Mexico and also held the title of 'Writer-in-Residence' from 1973-1974.

From the guide to the Michel Butor Papers, 1969-1974, (University of New Mexico. Center for Southwest Research.)