Platten, David (P.)

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PLATTEN, David (P.)

PERSONAL:

Male. Education: Leeds University, B.A., Ph.D., 1994. Hobbies and other interests: Coaching soccer; music.

ADDRESSES:

Office—Department of French, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, England; fax: 44-0-113-343-3477. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

Educator and author. Leeds University, Leeds, England, lecturer in French, modern French literature, film, and liaison interpreting, 1989—.

WRITINGS:

Dijan: 37.2 le matin, University of Glasgow French & German Publications (Glasgow, Scotland), 1995.

Michel Tournier and the Metaphor of Fiction, St. Martin's Press (New York, NY), 1999.

WORK IN PROGRESS:

A book on le roman noir; a book of essays on French popular culture.

SIDELIGHTS:

David Platten, a British scholar of French language and literature, may be best known for his book Michel Tournier and the Metaphor of Fiction. This book was widely praised by French Forumcontributor William Cloonan for its "sophisticated readings" of modern French novelist Tournier's works, and for the author's position regarding the place of literature in modern society. Platten opposes the post-structuralist trend in modern literary criticism that is rooted in the concept that texts can only be interpreted in relation to themselves; instead, he proposes a metaphorical reading of texts where works of fiction can be read for their commentaries on the real world. Platten's book "constitute[s] a more than modest contribution to the reintegration of literature and life," Cloonan commented, but Platten also "provides a fair-minded summary of the major critical approaches that have preceded this present one."

Journal of European Studies critic Michael Tilby also commented positively about Platten's grasp of critical history and his "resolute pursuit" of an original analysis."The result," Tilby continued, "is a fine piece of interpretative criticism, rich and mature in its insights, its intellectual pliancy complemented by the engaging manner in which the thesis is advanced."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Choice, June, 2000, A. Thiher, review of Michel Tournier and the Metaphor of Fiction, p. 1823.

French Forum, spring, 2002, William Cloonan, review of Michel Tournier and the Metaphor of Fiction, pp. 155-157.

French Studies, April, 1997, Stephen F. Noreiko, review of Dijan: 37.2 le matin, pp. 240-241; October, 2001, Colin Davis, review of Michel Tournier and the Metaphor of Fiction, p. 573.

Journal of European Studies, June, 2001, Michael Tilby, review of Michel Tournier and the Metaphor of Fiction, pp. 227-228.

Modern Language Review, January, 1997, Edmund J. Smyth, review of Dijan: 37.2 le matin, pp. 206-207.