Grand Oral LLCE

Hello, my name is X and today I am going to talk about the following question: To what extent does English fiction allow to highlight the drifts of our societies? This question fits into the theme ‘Imaginaries’ of the curriculum. This presentation will be divided into two parts, the first focusing on the idea that fiction is sometimes like a reflection of some realities of modern times, and the second will show that fiction can also be a whistle-blower.

By definition, fiction refers to any invented story, and can take the form of a novel, a short story, a comic book, a film, or even a series. Fiction does not pretend to tell true stories, although it may be based on real events or people, fiction writers create characters, dialogue and plots entirely from their imagination. Fiction often has the simple aim of entertaining its viewers, but sometimes there is a deeper message behind it. It can indeed allow to highlight certain drifts, or potential future drifts, of our societies, and thus allows the spectators to realise this.

To illustrate my point of view, I have selected 4 documents. The first is an article from the British newspaper 'The Guardian' about the film 'I, Daniel Blake' by Ken Loach.  It shows the difficulties people from the working class will face due to a failing social system and a certain abandonment of the most deprived. The second one is an extract from the novel ‘The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time’ by Mark Haddon. This fiction highlights the difficulties faced by people who are considered different. The next is an extract from George Orwell's famous novel '1984', published in 1949. It is a dystopia that takes place 30 years after a nuclear war. A totalitarian regime has been set up and the population is constantly monitored by the government, represented by Big Brother. Finally, the last document is a poster for the first episode of season 3 of the series 'Black Mirror'. This episode, entitled 'Nosedive', imagines a future in which each person rates the others from 0 to 5, with the best rated getting access to better services. We will thus see the drifts of a world, not so far from ours, governed by ratings and appearances.

As said in the introduction, fiction is not only meant to entertain us and it is not always so far from our world, fiction can sometimes be seen as a reflection of certain realities of modern times.

Fiction has become an obvious way to reflect on contemporary issues. It allows us to shed light on minorities that are rarely represented and little heard. In this way, fiction becomes a source of hope for these same people. Let's take the example of 'I, Daniel Blake', the film by the famous British director Ken Loach released in 2016. It highlights the failings of the UK's social security system, showing how the system, like most of the people involved in it, abandons and fails those in difficulty, whether it be their economic situation or their health. We see Daniel Blake, the main character, being humiliated by this administration which he considers far too bureaucratic. He is then confronted with numerous individuals whom he considers inhuman and who want to force him to comply with rules that make no sense to him. More concretely, this film is first of all a kind of response to the laws that since 2008 consider that many people with health problems or disabilities can have access to work, but it also aims to denounce the 2010 plan to privatise as many public services as possible.

Another fiction that can illustrate the idea that fiction can reveal a contemporary problem is the novel 'The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time'. It highlights how children with autism are not sufficiently supported, or more precisely, how we are not enough informed and aware of them. It shows a young boy who is misunderstood by everyone, sometimes even by his own father. Because he doesn't necessarily understand all our social codes and adopts a more individualistic attitude, we feel a certain general rejection. This raises the question of inclusion, by this I mean the democratic effort to ensure that all citizens, with or without disabilities, can participate fully in society on the basis of equal rights. Through Christopher, we understand that this ideal is rarely respected and that people who are considered "different" are often rejected and excluded.