Why was Charles Plisnier’s Faux Passeports historically significant?

Charles Plisnier’s Faux passeports (1937; Memoirs of a Secret Revolutionary) holds historical significance in Belgian literature primarily because it earned Plisnier the prestigious Prix Goncourt, making him the first non-French writer to receive the award.1

The work consists of five novellas that explore the lives of disillusioned militants. Reflecting Plisnier's own background in leftist politics and his subsequent break from the Communist Party, the collection utilizes his characteristic technique of employing a first-person witness to mediate between the reader and the hero. Through these narratives, Plisnier provides an intense, analytical examination of individual crisis and the psychological complexities of those involved in revolutionary movements.1