The 2014 Nobel Prize in Literature from the Swedish Academy praised Modiano's works for showcasing the art of memory, awakening human destiny, and revealing French life during the German occupation period. In the novel 'Dark Shop Street', the amnesiac protagonist searches for identity through details, reflecting the author's creative technique of using mazes to symbolize the confusion between memory and identity.

Urban Maze Imagination

Modiano's works are deeply influenced by the urban landscape of Paris, likening the complexity of memory to the maze like structure of the city, constructing an 'inner city'. The imagination of urban mazes and memory mazes is reflected in the titles and contents of works such as "Star Square" and "Night Patrol", where urban space is closely linked to the theme of memory. The complexity and stability of urban landscapes symbolize the uncertainty of memory and resistance to the passage of time, respectively. The maze city in the work is not only a physical space, but also a symbolic landscape of characters' synchronic observation, reflecting the individual's situation and the contingency of fate in social history.

Catalog Maze Poetics

In depth exploration of the connection between urban space and cataloging literature in Modiano's works, as well as their important role in expressing memory, identity, and time. Modiano utilizes urban geomorphology and cataloging literature to transform practical materials from daily life into literary elements with labyrinthine poetic value. In 'The Dark Shop Street', the maze like nature of the library echoes Borges' 'The Library of the Tower of Babel', reflecting the author's exploration of the themes of memory and identity. In Modiano's own creative process, catalog style information such as objects, dates, names, and locations from real events became the inspiration for his creations. These pieces of information are both practical and poetic in his works.

The narrative maze of branching cycles

Faris believes that the characteristic of Modiano's maze writing lies in the fit between the maze imagination and narrative mode in the novel, where the maze imagination of cities and directories echoes the maze style narrative mode, conveying the author's maze writing consciousness. Modiano's narrative philosophy is consistent with Miller's deconstruction of the Ariadne line, and the branching and looping patterns of narrative clues disrupt the traditional image of "line" in thinking. In the narrative of identity and memory, "lines" become complex, without a central point providing a method for overall understanding, but leading to branching points and obstacles. Modiano often follows the established route of branching narrative time, such as the interweaving and mixing of narrative clues from different eras in "Star Square" and "Flowers on the Ruins", reflecting a non-linear narrative consciousness.