CREATIVITY OF DANIEL PENNAK: FROM ESSAY TO FAMILY SAGA AND CHILDREN'S WORKS

Abstract

The article analyzes the work of contemporary French writer, essayist, prose writer, author of detective works and works for children Daniel Pennac. A talented storyteller, his books attract with simplicity, ironic character, and playful aspect. With his creativity, the author caused a real “Pennacomania” not only in his homeland, but also in many other countries. The study analyzes three main directions of the writer’s creativity: family and childhood, adventures, and literature. He widely uses his personal experience as a reader, novelist, and teacher, rethinking the place and role of literature in education and everyday life. In the “Saga about the Malaussène” the author features the life of the large Malaussène family, led by the eldest brother Ben, in the context of life in the multinational Parisian quarter of Belleville. Ben has the ability to attract various kinds of adventures and troubles. He himself acts as a scapegoat, working first in a large store, and then in a book publishing house. His life, full of adventures, is associated with the upbringing of younger brothers and sisters and with literature. The author mythologizes both the characters of the saga and the artistic reality of his works, revealing in the center of his creativity the myth of the scapegoat. The theme of childhood is associated with the trilogy about the boy Kamo, who is concerned with problems, friendships, communication, family. A special place in the work of D. Pennac is occupied by essayism, in particular, reflections on military service, reading, the place of the book in human life. In the book “Like a Novel,” French writer Daniel Pennac formulated ten key rules of children’s reading and thus created a kind of declaration of reader’s rights. In all his works, D. Pennac rethinks the place and role of literature in education and everyday life. Regardless of the genre, his books share a unity of tone, language, style.