Baron Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often Hereditary title, hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than ...

ess Fabienne Claire Nothomb (; born 13 August 1967''État présent de la noblesse belge'', éditions of 1979, 1995 and 2010. Her birth is announced in n° 87, aout 1967, p. 340 of the ''Bulletin de l'association de la noblesse du royaume de Belgique'', publication trimestrielle : Annonces de naissance : "''Baron et Baronne Patrick Nothomb : Fabienne, 13 août 1967''".), better known by her

pen name A pen name or nom-de-plume is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen name may be used to make the author's na ...

Amélie Nothomb (), is a Belgian

Francophone The Francophonie or Francophone world is the whole body of people and organisations around the world who use the French language regularly for private or public purposes. The term was coined by Onésime Reclus in 1880 and became important a ...

novelist. Part of her childhood was spent in Asia. A prolific author, since the publication of her first novel '' Hygiene and the Assassin'' in 1992, at the age of twenty-six, she has published a book a year. Her novels are among the top literary sales and have been translated into several languages. She is a Commander of the Order of the Crown and has had the title of

ess bestowed upon her by King

Philippe of Belgium Philippe (born 15 April 1960) is King of the Belgians. He is the eldest child of King Albert II and Queen Paola. He succeeded his father upon the former's abdication for health reasons on 21 July 2013. He married Mathilde d'Udekem d'Acoz in 1 ...

. Her satirical novel about corporate life in Japan '' Fear and Trembling'' won the Grand Prix du roman de l'Académie française in 1999, and in 2015 she was elected to the Royal Academy of French Language and Literature in Belgium.

Biography

Research shows Amélie Nothomb was born in

Etterbeek Etterbeek (; ) is one of the List of municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located in the eastern part of the region, it is bordered by the municipalities of Auderghem, the Cit ...

Brussels-Capital Region Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a region of Belgium comprising 19 municipalities, including the City of Brussels, which is the capital ...

on 9 July 1966. As an artist, she has consistently claimed metaphorically to have been born in

Kobe Kobe ( ; , ), officially , is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. With a population of around 1.5 million, Kobe is Japan's List of Japanese cities by population, seventh-largest city and the third-largest port city after Port of Toky ...

, Japan in 1967 while records show her living there only from ages two to five. Subsequently, she lived in China, New York City,

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

Burma Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and ha ...

, the United Kingdom (

Coventry Coventry ( or rarely ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands county, in England, on the River Sherbourne. Coventry had been a large settlement for centurie ...

) and

Laos Laos, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic (LPDR), is the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by Myanmar and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the southeast, and Thailand to the west and ...

. She stems from a Belgian noble family. Her father was the Belgian diplomat Patrick Nothomb, and she is the grandniece of Charles-Ferdinand Nothomb, a Belgian foreign minister (1980–1981), and great-granddaughter of writer and politician Pierre Nothomb. She has one brother (André Nothomb) and one sister, Juliette Nothomb, who is a writer of children's books. Armes de la famille Nothomb

While in Japan, Nothomb attended a local school and learned Japanese. When she was five, the family moved to China. She remarked in '' Fear and Trembling'' that leaving Japan was "a wrenching separation for me". She studied

philology Philology () is the study of language in Oral tradition, oral and writing, written historical sources. It is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics with strong ties to etymology. Philology is also de ...

at the

Université libre de Bruxelles The (French language, French, ; lit. Free University of Brussels; abbreviated ULB) is a French-speaking research university in Brussels, Belgium. It has three campuses: the ''Solbosch'' campus (in the City of Brussels and Ixelles), the ''Plain ...

. Having finished her studies, Nothomb returned to Japan to work in a Japanese company in Tokyo. Her experience of this time is expressed in ''Fear and Trembling''. Nothomb's first novel, '' Hygiène de l'assassin'', was published in 1992. Since then, she has published approximately one novel per year, including '' Les Catilinaires'' (1995), '' Fear and Trembling'' (1999) and '' Métaphysique des tubes'' (2000). She has been awarded numerous prizes, including the 1993 Prix Jacques-Chardonne, the 1999 Grand Prix du roman de l'Académie française, the Grand prix Jean Giono (2008), and since 2015 has been a member of the Belgium Royal Academy of French language and literature. She wrote a romanticized biography ('' The Book of Proper Names'') of French female singer

Robert The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of ''Hrōþ, Hruod'' () "fame, glory, honour, prais ...

in 2002 and during the period 2000–2002 wrote the lyrics for nine tracks by the same artist. A documentary — ''Amélie Nothomb: une vie entre deux eaux'' (a life between two waters) — co-written and directed by Laurelinne Amanieux and Luca Chiari, about Amélie's return to Japan and rediscovery of the beauty of the landscapes, the peaceful rites, the sadness of Fukushima, but especially, the meeting with her Japanese nursemaid, Nishio San was made in 2012. By a Royal Decree of 8 July 2015, Nothomb was ennobled as a non-hereditary baroness. Her novel ''Premier sang'' depicts the fictional memoirs of her father who had died in 2020 and written in the first person won the

Prix Renaudot The Prix Théophraste-Renaudot or () is a French literary award. History The prize was created in 1926 by ten art critics awaiting the results of deliberation of the jury of the Prix Goncourt. While not officially related to the Prix Goncour ...

2021.

Works

Books

Unless otherwise stated, all works were originally published in French by Éditions Albin Michel.

Adaptations

Film adaptations

*1999: '' Hygiène de l'assassin'' (''Hygiene and the Assassin''), French movie directed by François Ruggieri, with Jean Yanne (Prétextat Tach) and Barbara Schulz (Nina). *2003: '' Stupeur et tremblements'' (''Fear and Trembling''), French movie directed by Alain Corneau with Sylvie Testud (Amélie) and Kaori Tsuji (Fubuki). *2014: '' Tokyo Fiancée'', Belgian movie directed by Stefan Liberski with Pauline Etienne (Amélie) and Taichi Inoue (Rinri) *2021: ''A Perfect Enemy'' (adaptation of the novel, ''Cosmétique de l'ennemi''), French movie directed by Kike Maíllo.

Stage adaptations

*''Le sabotage amoureux'' (English: ''Loving sabotage''), Theater Le Ranelagh, Paris, 1999 With Valérie Mairesse, Pétronille de Saint-Rapt, Vanessa Jarry Direction: Annabelle Milot *''Le sabotage amoureux'' (''Loving Sabotage''), Theater Daniel-Sorano, Vincennes, 2003–2005 With Pauline Foschia, Jeanne Gougeau, Laurence Vielle Adaptation et direction: Brigitte Bailleux, Laurence Vielle *''Cosmétique de l'ennemi'' (''The Enemy's Cosmetique''), "La Compagnie des Sept Lieux", Suisse, 2003–2008 With John Durand and Olivier Renault Adaptation and direction: Emmanuel Samatani and Jean-Daniel Uldry *''Les combustibles'' (''Human Rites''), Theater Daniel-Sorano, Vincennes, March – April 2008 With Michel Boy, Julie Turin, Grégory Gerrebo Direction: Stéphane Cottin *''Métaphysique des tubes'' (''The Character of Rain''), 2007–2009 With Cécile Schletzer and Claire Rieussec Direction: Claire Rieussec *''Hygiène de l'assassin'' (''Hygiene and the Assassin''), Theater of Namur and Theater "le Public", Bruxelles, September – October 2008 With Daniel Hanssens, Nathalie Cornet, Valérie Marchand and Vincent Lécuyer Direction: Pierre Santini *''Biographie de la Faim'' (''The Life of Hunger''), Theater of "La Place des Martyrs", Bruxelles, April – May 2009 With Nathalie Cornet, Michel Hinderyckx, Jessica Gazon, Stéphanie Blanchoud... Adaptation and direction: Christine Delmotte *''Les Combustibles'' (''Human Rites''), Theater of Nesle, Paris, 16 September 2010 – 2 October 2010 With Philippe Doré, Freddy Zimmer, Florine Moreau Direction: Hubert Vinzani *''Stupeur et Tremblements'' (''Fear and Trembling''), Theater "Le Petit Hébértot", Paris, 18 March 2011 – 22 May 2011 With Layla Metssitane Adaptation and direction: Layla Metssitane

Audio books

Eight of Amélie Nothomb's novels were adapted in the form of audio books, the first four were published by the editions "VDB", the others by "Audiolib" : *''Robert des noms propres'' (=''The Book of Proper Names''): Amélie Nothomb (author) and Véronique Groux de Miéri (narrator), La Roque-sur-Pernes, "Éditions VDB", 1 March 2003 () (Note BNF (FRENCH NATIONAL LIBRARY) no FRBNF39186856q). Support: 3 audio CD (lasted: 3:15 am min, complete text), ref. V.D.B. 008. *''Antéchrista'' (=''Antichrista''): Amélie Nothomb (author) and Véronique Groux de Miéri (narrator), La Roque-sur-Pernes, "Éditions VDB", 1 March 2004 () (Note BNF (FRENCH NATIONAL LIBRARY) no FRBNF412025642). Support: 3 audio CD (lasted: 2:52 am min, complete text), ref. V.D.B. 033. Musical illustration: Thierry Duhamel. *''Biographie de la faim'' (=''The life of hunger''): Amélie Nothomb (author) and Véronique Groux de Miéri (narrator), La Roque-sur-Pernes, "Éditions VDB", 1 March 2005 () (Note BNF (FRENCH NATIONAL LIBRARY) no FRBNF40227909h). Support: 4 audio CD (lasted: 4:17 am min, complete text), ref. V.D.B. 074. Musical illustration: Thierry Duhamel. *''Acide sulfurique'' (=''Sulphuric acid''): Amélie Nothomb (author) and Véronique Groux de Miéri (narrator), La Roque-sur-Pernes, "Éditions VDB", 1 March 2006 () (Note BNF (FRENCH NATIONAL LIBRARY) no FRBNF40227903f). Support: 3 audio CD (lasted: 5:39 am min, complete text), ref. V.D.B. 104. Musical illustration: Thierry Duhamel. *''Ni d'Eve, ni d'Adam'' (=''Tokyo Fiancée''): Amélie Nothomb (author) and Sylvie Testud (narrator), Paris, "Audiolib", 13 February 2008 () (Note BNF (FRENCH NATIONAL LIBRARY) no FRBNF412025642). Support: 1 audio CD (lasted: 3:50 am min, complete text), ref. Audiolib 25 0012 02. *''Le fait du prince'' (=''The prince's act''): Amélie Nothomb (author) and Patrick Waleffe (narrator), Paris, "Audiolib", 21 January 2009 () (Note BNF (FRENCH NATIONAL LIBRARY) no FRBNF414068348). Support: 1 audio CD (lasted: 3:00 am min, complete text), ref. Audiolib 25 0049 4. *''Le voyage d'hiver'' (=''The winter journey''): Amélie Nothomb (author) and Thibault de Montalembert (narrator), Paris, "Audiolib", 9 September 2009 () (Note BNF (FRENCH NATIONAL LIBRARY) no FRBNF42044512x). Support: 2 audio CD (lasted: 1:54 am min, complete text), ref. Audiolib 25 0129 4. *''Une forme de vie'' (=''A form of life''): Amélie Nothomb (author) and Frédéric Meaux (narrator), Paris, "Audiolib", 13 October 2010 () (Note BNF (FRENCH NATIONAL LIBRARY) no FRBNF42285807k). Support: 1 audio CD (lasted: 2:42 am min, complete text), ref. Audiolib 25 281 3.

Bibliography

* Susan Bainbrigge and Jeanette Den Toonder, ''Amélie Nothomb, Authorship, Identity and Narrative Practice'', Peter Lang, 2003. * (fr) Frédérique Chevillot, ''Amélie Nothomb : L'Invitation à la lecture''. Women in French Studies, 2012, vol. 2012, no 1, . * Mary Jane Cowles, ''Close Encounters of the Abject Kind: The Intercultural Female Body in Amélie Nothomb's Japan''. * Amaleena Damlé, ''Making A Body without Organs: Amélie Nothomb's An-Organic Flux of Immanence'', . * (fr) Yolande Helm, ''Amélie Nothomb : une écriture alimentée à la source de l'orphisme. Religiologiques, Orphée et Eurydice : mythes en mutation'', 1997, vol. 15, . * Anna Kemp, ''The Child as Artist in Amélie Nothomb's Robert des noms propres''. French studies, 2012, vol. 66, no 1, pp. 54–67. * Mark D. Lee, ''Les identités d'Amélie Nothomb : de l'invention médiatique aux fantasmes originaires'', éd. Rodopi, 2010. * (fr) Andrea Oberhuber, ''Réécrire à l'ère du soupçon insidieux : Amélie Nothomb et le récit postmoderne''. Études françaises, 2004, vol. 40, no 1, . * Scott M Powers, ''Evil in Contemporary French and Francophone Literature'', 2014.

References

External links

*
Amélie Nothomb website
*
The guardian interview of Amélie Nothomb, Richard Lea

Interview Threepercent Rochester edu.

*
amelienothomb.com
, an Italian website & forum at Voland edizioni {{DEFAULTSORT:Nothomb, Amelie 1966 births Living people 20th-century Belgian novelists 21st-century Belgian novelists 20th-century French non-fiction writers 21st-century French non-fiction writers 20th-century French women writers 21st-century French women writers Postmodern writers Belgian nobility Université libre de Bruxelles alumni Walloon people Commanders of the Order of the Crown (Belgium) Belgian writers in French Belgian women writers Grand Prix du roman de l'Académie française winners Grand prix Jean Giono recipients Prix Alain-Fournier winners Members of the Académie royale de langue et de littérature françaises de Belgique Prix Renaudot winners