Autofiction” Esthétique Et Politique Dans L’Autofiction Des Femmes Contemporaines
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AESTHETICS AND POLITICS IN CONTEMPORARY WOMEN’S “AUTOFICTION” ESTHÉTIQUE ET POLITIQUE DANS L’AUTOFICTION DES FEMMES CONTEMPORAINES Mercédès Baillargeon A dissertation submitted to the faculty at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor in Philosophy in the Department of Romance Languages (French). Chapel Hill 2014 Approved by: Dominique Fisher Richard C. Cante Oswaldo Estrada Lori Saint-Martin Jessica Tanner © 2014 Mercédès Baillargeon ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ii ABSTRACT Mercédès Baillargeon: Aesthetics and Politics of Contemporary Women’s “Autofiction” (Under the direction of Dominique Fisher) This dissertation takes as a point of departure the generally accepted idea of the “death” of French literature, which often includes accusations of overemphasizing individualism and encouraging political apathy; these critiques appear in a more exaggerated form in discussions about French literature because they stand in stark contrast to its traditional characterization as politically engaged. My dissertation, entitled “The Personal is Political: Aesthetics and Politics in Contemporary Women’s Autofiction,” argues the opposite. This project encompasses the controversial reception of some women’s writings that combine the paradoxical styles of autobiography and fiction, what is today called autofiction. Looking particularly at the works of Christine Angot, Chloé Delaume, and Nelly Arcan, these writers maintain a particularly tumultuous rapport with their public, both through their highly personal (or semi- autobiographical) texts and through their public performances in the media. I simultaneously examine how the media stigmatizes the authors, and how the authors manipulate media culture as an extension of their literary work. My research therefore raises important questions relating to the media’s complicated relationship with women writers, especially those who discuss themes of trauma, sexuality, and violence, and who also question the distinction between fact and fiction. Proposing to examine autofiction in line with the French tradition of “littérature engagée” [socially committed literature], my dissertation contributes to a broader understanding of intersecting forms of discrimination based on models of gender and national identities, which the dominant discourse on French universalism usually renders invisible, thus providing new insight on shifting notions of identity, the self and nationalism in France. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This work has been a long and rewarding journey that I gratefully recognize was helped along at every stage by all those who inspired and supported me. I therefore take this opportunity to acknowledge their helping me to make this dream a reality, and to thank them for the important and crucial role they played. I would like to extend my most heartfelt thanks to my advisor, Dr. Dominique Fisher, for her direction, guidance, support, and critical eye throughout that provided the impetus to always move forward. I would like to thank the members of my committee for their insight and support throughout the project: Richard C. Cante, Oswaldo Estrada, Lori Saint-Martin, and Jessica Tanner. I am grateful to the Department of Romance Languages as well as the Graduate School at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill for providing me with such an outstanding academic climate and for awarding me a Dissertation Completion Fellowship, allowing me the financial resources to reach this goal. Likewise, I would like to acknowledge the financial support of the Social Sciences and Humanities Council of Canada, contributing greatly to the completion of my doctoral studies. And what is there to say about my friends and family other than to warmly thank them for their ongoing presence and unflagging encouragement throughout my studies. Special thanks to my father, Patrick Baillargeon, as well as Gloria Amerson, Maury Bruhn, Andrew Gard, Mary Greenwood, and Catherine Mayer Thomas for their help making revisions and editing this dissertation. I couldn’t have done it without you! iv TABLE DES MATIÈRES CHAPITRE 1 : INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................... 1 1. Autofiction : débats et enjeux ...................................................................................................... 2 2. Lier l’analyse interne et externe : le concept de « posture » ...................................................... 7 3. Pacte autofictionnel, engagement et politique ............................................................................. 13 CHAPITRE 2 : CHRISTINE ANGOT, VICTIME OU MARTYRE ? .............................................. 24 1. Le projet angotien ........................................................................................................................ 26 1.1. Rhétorique de l’incertitude ................................................................................................. 26 1.2. Le « Sujet Angot » ............................................................................................................... 31 1.3. Logique Angot, logique scandaleuse ................................................................................... 33 1.4. La figure de l’inceste ........................................................................................................... 36 2. L’Inceste : contrer les attentes du lecteur .................................................................................... 39 2.1. Structure incestueuse ........................................................................................................... 40 2.1.1. Structure du récit .......................................................................................................... 40 2.1.2. Structure de la phrase ................................................................................................... 43 2.2. Homosexualité ..................................................................................................................... 45 2.2.1. L’homophobie de Christine Angot ou la posture de la polémiste ............................... 45 2.2.2. Je est un autre ............................................................................................................... 49 2.3. Paranoïa et sabotage ............................................................................................................. 54 3. Quitter la ville : naissance d’une tragédie? .................................................................................. 57 3.1. La création d’un mythe : Angot et le tragique .................................................................... 58 3.1.1. L’obsession des chiffres de vente ................................................................................ 58 v 3.1.2. Œdipe devenu Antigone ............................................................................................... 64 3.2. Sujet Angot : victime ou martyre? ...................................................................................... 69 CHAPITRE 3 : CHLOÉ DELAUME : LA VICTIME ENFIN BOURREAU? ................................. 77 1. L’autofiction expérimentale de Chloé Delaume .......................................................................... 79 1.1. L’invention de Chloé Delaume ............................................................................................ 79 1.2. Le pacte autofictionnel de Chloé Delaume ......................................................................... 82 1.3. L’affect comme engagement ............................................................................................... 87 2. Fictions individuelles, fictions collectives : Les Mouflettes d’Atropos et Le Cri du sablier ..................................................................................................................... 94 2.1. Les Mouflettes d’Atropos : l’individu dans le collectif ........................................................ 94 2.1.1. « Le poids de l’impact » ou l’agressivité détournée .................................................... 95 2.1.2. La fin des contes de fée et post-pornographie .............................................................. 101 2.1.3. Pro travail du sexe ........................................................................................................ 104 2.1.4. Un tort à réparer? Le rapport au lecteur ....................................................................... 111 2.2. Le Cri du sablier : Déconstruire les fictions individuelles .................................................. 112 2.2.1. Entre le dévoilement de soi et la culture du secret, un dilemme impossible .................................................................................................................... 113 2.2.1.1. L’ « autopsy » et la volonté de savoir ....................................................... 113 2.2.1.2. Sauver les apparences ou comment taire le traumatisme .......................... 116 2.2.2. Entre honte et culpabilité, ou comment on peut lire les traces du traumatisme à l’âge adulte ........................................................................................... 117 2.2.2.1. Différentiation personnelle, discours indirect libre et personne grammaticale ............................................................................................ 117 2.2.2.2. L’ironie comme distance critique ............................................................