Poïétique et politique du littéraire : Annie Ernaux, une écriture « au-dessous de la littérature » ?

Abstract

In Une femme (1987; A Woman's Story), Annie Ernaux declared that she wished to remain “au-dessous de la littérature” (“below literature”). To what extent is this position, which she has maintained over the last decades, compatible with her consecration as a writer? This article considers the publication of Les Années (2008; The Years) as a turning point followed by the publication of several collaborative and dialogic texts that call into question established literary forms and make visible the process of creation, that is to say the poiesis of the œuvre. By revealing the act of writing, Ernaux contributes to establishing a genealogy of her work, even showing it to have a mythical dimension which is nevertheless tied to socio-political concerns. Exploring the resonance between Ernaux's literary pieces and her paratextual interventions highlights the complex network on which Ernaux's conception of writing, and position towards the idea of literature, are built.