French Nobel Laureate Writer Le Clézio Lectures at WHU

    On November 16, the famous French writer, Nobel Prize winner for literature Le Clézio was invited to the School of Foreign Language and Literature for academic lecture. He engaged in in-depth discussion with students about the impact of Internet on words and literature in this new media era.

    Le Clézio expounded the limitation of pictures in the era of new media and thus the irreplaceable importance of words. He said that words were the way for expressing truth. In the era of new media, it seems that the Internet has made pictures the mainstream of information, but real power resides in words. It is words that can reveal facts and convey information. Internet literature cannot replace typical and traditional literature. The impact of Internet media can not change the role of literature. Today's electronic products and new media have provided people with new platforms for information access. This means that information and knowledge are no longer a closed system, but one that is open to the public. So it is necessary for writers to position themselves properly in this new media era.

    Le Clézio is one representative writer of the French new fable school, who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2008. Modiano, Perec and Le Clézio are the three most important writers in France, Le Clézio’s works include Le Procès-verbal, Le Chercheur d'or, Voyage a Rodigues etc.