Tropisms

{{Short description|1939 novel by Nathalie Sarraute}}

{{About|the novel|the biological phenomenon|Tropism}}

{{Infobox book

| italic title =

| name = Tropisms

| image =Tropisms cover.png

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| caption = First edition cover

| author = Nathalie Sarraute

| audio_read_by = Isabelle Huppert (2009)

| title_orig = Tropismes

| orig_lang_code = fr

| title_working =

| translator = Maria Jolas

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| country = France

| language = French

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| subject =

| genre = Nouveau roman

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| publisher = Éditions Denoël

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| pub_date = 1939

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| dewey = 843.912

| congress = PZ3 .S247 T

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Tropisms ({{Langx|fr|Tropismes}} {{IPA|fr|tʁɔ.pism|}}) is an experimental novel by Nathalie Sarraute, first published in 1939. It is considered a forerunner of the Nouveau Roman.{{Cite web|url=http://www.full-stop.net/2016/05/25/reviews/allison-conner/tropisms-nathalie-sarraute/|title=Tropisms – Nathalie Sarraute}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/tropisms-1939-by-nathalie-sarraute-translated-by-maria-jolas-1.3885135|title=Tropisms (1939) by Nathalie Sarraute, translated by Maria Jolas|first=Rob|last=Doyle|website=The Irish Times}} Jean Genet, Marguerite Duras and Jean-Paul Sartre all described it as a masterpiece.{{Cite web|url=https://www.ndbooks.com/book/tropisms/|title=Tropisms|date=November 10, 2015|publisher=www.ndbooks.com}}{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ISyDDwAAQBAJ&q=Tropisms+(1939)+by+Nathalie+Sarraute|title=Tropism|first=Nathalie|last=Serraute|date=August 28, 2018|publisher=Alma Books|isbn=9780714549330|via=Google Books}}{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IJPExQEACAAJ&q=Tropismes+++Sarraute|title=The Fiction of Nathalie Sarraute: A Study of Her Work from 'Tropismes' to 'vous Les Entendez?'|first=Sheila Margaret|last=Bell|date=November 9, 1976|publisher=British Library, Document Supply Centre|via=Google Books}}

The title refers to tropisms, stimuli to plant growth; in the human sense, Sarraute imagined tropisms as "interior movements that precede and prepare our words and actions, at the limits of our consciousness."{{Cite web |last1=Guppy |first1=Shusha |last2=Weiss |first2=Jason |date=Spring 1990 |title=Nathalie Sarraute, The Art of Fiction No. 115 |url=https://www.theparisreview.org/interviews/2341/nathalie-sarraute-the-art-of-fiction-no-115-nathalie-sarraute |magazine=The Paris Review |issue=114}}{{Cite book |last=Barbour |first=Sarah |date=November 9, 1993 |title=Nathalie Sarraute and the Feminist Reader: Identities in Process |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gjJ7oh1nOGsC&pg=PA60 |publisher=Bucknell University Press |isbn=9780838752357 |via=Google Books}}{{Cite encyclopedia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xo1MBgAAQBAJ&pg=PT6 |title=Tropismes de Nathalie Sarraute: Les Fiches de lecture d'Universalis |encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia Universalis |date=November 10, 2015 |isbn=9782852299962 |via=Google Books}}

It was ranked #73 in Le Monde{{'}}s 100 Books of the Century.{{Cite web|url=https://www.senscritique.com/liste/Les_100_livres_du_vingtieme_siecle_d_apres_Le_Monde/68328|title=Les 100 livres du vingtième siècle d'après Le Monde - Liste de 95 livres - SensCritique|publisher=www.senscritique.com}}