Annie Ernaux: de la perte au corps glorieux by Michèle Bacholle-Bošković

Abstract

Literary History and Criticism edited by Marion Geiger Bacholle-Bošković, Michèle. Annie Ernaux: de la perte au corps glorieux. Rennes: PU de Rennes, 2011. ISBN 978-2-7535-1707-3. Pp. 175. 15 a. The brusque opening of this book—“Toutes les images demeureront” (9), followed by a list of cryptic phrases and fragments—represents an appropriate test for potential readers: anyone who does not recognize the play on the incipit of Les années or catch the allusions to different works by Ernaux is probably not going to be able to appreciate this rapidly moving treatment of her oeuvre. The uncontroversial foundation of Bacholle-Bošković’s argument is that a pervasive sense of loss, whether real or symbolic, has always driven Ernaux to write, as the latter has acknowledged on a number of occasions. Among the more important instances that Bacholle-Bošković examines are Ernaux’s discovery, at age ten, that she was in effect an “enfant de remplacement” (38) for an older sister who had died; her decision to terminate an unwanted pregnancy at a time when abortion was still illegal in France; and the wrenching experience of losing, to Alzheimer’s, the mother with whom she had such a complex relationship. Hence the understandable desire, on Ernaux’s part, to preserve traces of the past, notably by incorporating descriptions of personal photographs into her writing, and the fascination with‘taches’ of various sorts that is apparent in many of her works. More problematic, however, is Bacholle-Bošković’s eventual conclusion, previewed early on: “C’est en écrivant contre [...] ces pertes [...] qu’Ernaux a produit une œuvre double, ancrée dans le passé mais porteuse du futur, une œuvre de ce qui a été et de ce qui sera, progressant de la perte au corps glorieux”(12).What exactly we are to understand by the notion of “corps glorieux”remains unclear, particularly since the final part of this study, in support of that contention, is relatively short, visibly hurried, and difficult to follow, as Bacholle-Bošković returns at times to material touched on earlier and slips rapidly from point to point, moving quickly to broad assertions. After citing a remark by Ernaux that she has felt at times something of a ‘mission’in writing, Bacholle-Bošković concludes in abrupt fashion:“Messianique est ainsi l’œuvre ernalienne. Alors prenons et lisons-la tous, car ceci est son corps, sa vie, offerts pour nous” (169). To her credit, Bacholle-Bošković is intimately familiar with Ernaux’s extensive oeuvre, as well as the numerous interviews the author has given, and at times her readings are certainly thought-provoking. There are interesting musings, for example, on the significance of Ernaux’s full given name,“Annie Thérèse Blanche Ernaux, née Duchesne”(19), on the impact of the characteristic blancs that punctuate her writing (55–56), on her drive to“laisser sa trace”(119), or on the resonances of the title of her masterwork, Les années (166). Anyone who has followed Ernaux’s body of work will naturally be interested in this book (which includes a certain measure of 252 FRENCH REVIEW 87.3 Reviews 253 previously published material), even if the presentation remains on the whole more impressionistic than entirely convincing. University of Kansas John T. Booker Baetens, Jan, et Alexander Streitberger. De l’autoportrait à l’autobiographie. Caen: Minard, 2011. ISBN 978-2-256-91166-8. Pp. 263. 28 a. This attractive publication’s back cover states:“les études réunies dans ce volume collectif traitent de la façon dont la photographie peut s’allier aux mots pour retracer un vécu personnel.” This description is an indispensable complement to the work’s title because it underscores the importance of photographs throughout the collective volume. Indeed, the “self-portrait” of the title is meant to point toward one of the oldest genres of photography, according to the well-written introduction by the coeditors . This is not the only recent publication to focus on the interplay of photographs and words in works containing autobiographical elements, but it is one of the best, thanks to its balance; while the chapters deal with...