Le Navire Night : le mélange des genres et des arts

Abstract

The works of Marguerite Duras show visible hybridity, broadly understood as a mixture of genres, correspondence of the arts, or intertextuality. Her texts reflect, par excellence, this tendency because they keep departing from classical forms. Consequently, the same text can be interpreted as a novel, screenplay, or film. This transgression seemingly results from the versatility of changing artistic interests of Duras, who, while writing, was fascinated by film-making and all possibilities of experimentation. The transgression is confirmed by a kind of polyphony of voices in her works, which makes them both extremely suggestive and open. A prime example of this technique is Le Navire Night. According to the concept of poetical-novelistic or cinematic writing, it can be seen as a ‘hybrid’ work. Therefore, Le Navire Night is sometimes read as a poem as understood by Henri Meschonnic, referring to the creativity of the author, especially in the field of language