Will we see celebrated the foundation of the Journal des savants (1685), and the institution of Molière's troupe as the king's troupe? or, a hundred years later, the creation of the Almanach des Muses, annual poetry collection (1765)? or perhaps an even more important fact for our history, the Introduction to the Study of Experimental Medicine (1865) by Claude Bernard? It is to be feared that we will stick to the evocation of the debate on the New Criticism (R. Picard, R. Barthes, J.P. Weber, S. Doubrovsky), so distant in our eyes, so futile compared to the disappearance of Marcel Allain, creator (with his friend Souvestre) of the immortal Fantômas, or Michaux's refusal of the Grand Prix National des Lettres.

All memory, even that of computers, is selective, or unusable.

Below, as in 2013 and 2014, will be found the list of French authors and that of works to celebrate, for a tricentenary, bicentenary, centenary or a multiple of fifty years.

The choice may seem arbitrary, and it is. This is because it wants to be the work of literary historians, whose main function is not to reproduce the lists of works registered at the Legal Deposit each year, but to choose what, in their eyes, bears a sign of historicity. This choice is borrowed from the BDHL (Literary History Database) that I conceived ages ago, with some colleagues, for both pedagogical and investigative purposes. It can be found at the address phalese.fr

Birth places are followed by the indication of the current country or department (Paris being city-department)

Writers born/died in 1615:

Pasquier, Etienne, 1529, Paris, 1615, Paris.

Writers born/died in 1665:

Regnard, Jean-François, 1665, Paris, 1709, Dourdan (91)

Writers born/died in 1715:

Helvétius, Claude-Adrien, 1715, Paris, 1771, Paris.

Bernis, François Joachim de Pierre de, 1715, Saint-Marcel (07), 1794, Rome.

Vauvenargues, 1715, Aix en Pce (13), 1747, Paris.

Fénelon, François, 1699, Château de Fénelon (24), 1715, Cambrai (59).

Galland, Antoine, 1646, Rollot (80), 1715, Paris.

Malebranche, Nicolas, 1638, Paris, 1715, Paris.

Writers born/died in 1815:

Labiche, Eugène, 1815, Paris, 1883, Paris.

Writers born/died in 1915:

Picon, Gaëtan, 1915, Bordeaux, 1976, Paris.

Gourmont, Remy de, 1858, Bazoches (61), 1915, Paris.

Pergaud, Louis, 1882, Belmont (25), 1915, Marcheville (28).

Writers born/died in 1965:

Allain, Marcel, 1885, Paris, 1965, Andrézy (78).

Audiberti, Jacques, 1899, Antibes (06), 1965, Neuilly S/Seine (92).

Vailland, Roger, 1907, Acy le Mullier (60), 1965, Meillonnas, (01).

Works

If it is just that our society honors the dead, it is nevertheless not a date of birth, still less of death, that makes literature. Here, consequently, are some anniversaries of works to celebrate and, consequently, to read or reread:

Lesage, Gil Blas de Santillane (1715-1735).

Villiers de L'Isle Adam, Elën, drama in 3 acts in prose, Paris, Poupart-Davyl, 1865.

Tocqueville, Alexis de, Voyage en Amérique (posthumous), Complete Works, Paris, Michel Lévy frères, 1865.

Verne, Jules, From the Earth to the Moon, Direct Journey in 97 Hours 20 Minutes, novel, Paris, J. Hetzel, 1865, 302 p.

Stendhal, Italian Chronicles, Paris, Michel Lévy frères, 352 p.

Hugo, Victor, Songs of the Streets and Woods, poetic collection, Paris, Lacroix et Verboeckhoven, 1865, 300 p.

Which fifty-year-old works should be reread?

The closer one gets to the event, the more difficult it is to choose. Here is the ranking established by 2 or 3 promotions of university first-cycle students:

Arrabal, Fernando, The Great Ceremonial, Paris, Julliard.

Duras, Marguerite, The Vice-Consul, Novel, Paris, Gallimard.

Giono, Jean, Two Riders of the Storm, novel, Paris, Gallimard.

Pérec, Georges, Things, Paris, Julliard.

Queneau, Raymond, The Blue Flowers, Paris, Gallimard.

Sagan, Françoise, La Chamade, novel, Paris, Julliard.

Schéhadé, Georges, The Emigrant from Brisbane, Paris, Gallimard.

Sembene Ousmane, The Mandate, Paris, Présence Africaine.

The BDHL offers many other information relating to the history of French literature as we can conceive it today, both on the generic and thematic level. It also provides links to works in the public domain.