French Literature Reviews - 2026

Words of a Prophet. Biblical Repetitions in Albert Cohen's Paroles Juives and Carnets 1978
Literary Theory, Linguistics and Stylistics

Laurence AUDÉOUD, Words of a Prophet. Biblical Repetitions in Albert Cohen's Paroles Juives and Carnets 1978, Oxford / Bern / Berlin / Brussels / Frankfurt am Main / New York / Vienna, Peter Lang (Franco-Italica), 2007, 278 p.
ISBN 978-3-03911-290-6

ABSTRACT

This study examines the extent to which the linguistic expressions in Albert Cohen's collection Paroles Juives (1921) and his testamentary text Carnets 1978 draw upon a biblically inspired model. By conducting a comprehensive chronological investigation into the figures of biblical repetition cataloged by exegetes since the mid-18th century, and by using the methodological tools of both rhetoric and stylistics—the disciplines at the intersection of which this study is positioned—the author aims, on the one hand, to highlight and analyze a broad sampling of structures illustrating literary repetition techniques, and, on the other, to explore the nature of this Eastern and oral imprint, which reflects Albert Cohen's stylistic and symbolic rooting in a Jewish identity whose contradictions lie at the heart of his writing.

CONTENTS

Biblical Rhetoric and Stylistics
Paroles Juives: The Crucible of a Literary Oeuvre
Carnets 1978: The Prophet's Last Words.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Laurence Audéoud, born in 1964 in Sainte-Colombe-lès-Vienne (France), earned her Ph.D. in French Studies from the University of Turin. She teaches French language at the Faculty of Letters and Philosophy of the University of Eastern Piedmont. She is the author of a book on the evolution of the novel in France (Métamorphoses du roman, Turin, Talia Editrice, 1997).

The study of biblical rhetoric and its influence on modern literature remains a significant area of inquiry within French studies. By analyzing how specific linguistic structures from sacred texts are integrated into secular works, scholars often explore the intersection of religious heritage and individual artistic expression. This approach frequently involves examining how oral traditions and ancient stylistic devices shape the prose of twentieth-century authors. Readers interested in the stylistic evolution of Albert Cohen's writing and the specific manifestation of his Jewish identity through these rhetorical patterns may find this analysis of his early and late texts relevant.

Albert Cohen is widely recognized for his exploration of identity, often characterized by the tension between his cultural roots and his literary innovations. The use of repetition as a stylistic device is a common feature in works that draw upon Eastern and oral traditions. This study examines the extent to which the linguistic expressions in Paroles Juives (1921) and Carnets 1978 draw upon a biblically inspired model. It highlights a broad sampling of structures illustrating literary repetition techniques and explores the nature of this Eastern and oral imprint, which reflects Cohen's stylistic and symbolic rooting in a Jewish identity.