Reading Diversity / Lectures du Divers by Charles Forsdick , Susan Marson (review)

Abstract

MLR,96.3,200 I 84I wellascritical essays andfiction, while a helpful index allows readers tofollow up individual texts ifthey sowish. There isalsoa useful bibliography. Part I dealswith difference inhuman relations, difference assource ofdissension andasrequisite ofindividuality. Itconcludes with anaccount ofSarraute's effiort to 'transmute diXerence into sameness', andherconversion ofphenomena similar to whatKristeva termed 'abjection' (ambiguity, indistinctness ofbeing)intoart, through anaesthetic capableof'transcending thelimits ofintersubjective relations while still subscribing totheir dynamic' (p.76). PartII, calling on feminist theorists from Beauvoir to Cixousand Irigaray, examines Sarraute's treatment ofthe('real'or metaphorical) bodyand sexual difference. Thevery physical impact oftheSarrautean text ischaracterized inone of JeXerson's many memorable formulations, as'a rhetoric ofthe body addressed to a bodywith theaimofpersuading thereader ofa certain truth aboutthemind' (p.go). Sarraute's refusal togender herwriting as 'ecriture feminine' is lucidly analysed anddefended (p.95).Jefferson makes theoften overlooked buttelling pointthatforSarraute's generation, 'feminism didnotmeanthedemandfor positive recognition of theirdiXerence, but,on thecontrary, a crusadefor acknowledgement ofthesameness ofthetwosexes'(p.98).Writing, for Sarraute, represents anescapefrom gender andaccesstothestatus ofundiffierentiated Cetre hUmaXn (P. IOI). Genre isthefocus ofPartIII,which outlines Sarraute's apparent acceptance of traditional categories ('essai', 'roman','poeme'),but her blurring of their boundaries. Commenting onthe provocative interventionism practised bySarraute asa critic/heretic, constantly undermining orthodoxy infavour of'the immediacy andspontaneity ofreaderly contact' (p. I29), Jefferson convincingly argues that her 'so-called critical writing isnotsomuch a form ofcriticism asa defence ofreading' (P. I30), aimingultimately 'to producea universal fusion whereboundaries, distance anddiXerences will nolonger exist' (p. I44).Jefferson further suggests that theputative generic diffierence ofEnfance, with itstendency toproduce authoridentity , is retrospectively counteracted bytheidentity-busting strategy oftune t'aimes pas,tobring itbackintothesameness of'a continuous fictional evolution' (P. I47). The bookis subtly argued and supported throughout bydetailed and perceptive textual analysis. The conceptual framework of'diXerence' seemed at timesconstricting; it squeezesout Sarraute's humour, and thediscussion of Sarraute's repetitions and variations did not,in myview,fithappily intoit: particularly inthenotable final chapter on'DeathandtheImpossible DiXerence', thesubstance ofthetexts under discussion seemed tooverflow thelexical frame. However, this iscarping, given theinnumerable insights andilluminations oXered bythis important book which noSarraute scholar will want tobewithout. UNIVERSITY OFWALES SWANSEA VALERIE MINOGUE Reading Diversity/Lectures duDivers. Ed.byCHARLES FORSDICK andSUSAN MARSON. (University ofGlasgow French andGerman Publications) Glasgow: University ofGlasgow. xooo. I72PP. Theseessays, edited from papersgivenat a conference heldin I998 at Royal Holloway, constitute a self-consciously interdisciplinary approachto Segalen. Including essays byspecialists inthefields ofarthistory andmusic as wellas of literature, thevolume is one ofthefirst genuine attempts to do justiceto the diversity, as indicated in thetitle, ofSegalen's interests andcompetences. The 842 Revzews Segalenian CDivers' appears as both thestructural andthematic inspiration ofthe volume. The unifying notion ofdiversity is treated in itsvarious manifestations The notion of'le Divers)as elaborated bySegalenhimself is thesuNJect ofCharles Forsdick's essay onthereception ofSegalen, inwhich heanalyses itsimplications forpost-colonial authors suchas EdouardGlissantn and Jean-Xavier Ridon discusses howrespecting the integrity of'leDivers' cancreate problems for a writer attempting toaccount for the otherness ofthe other. Thenotion of'leDivers' isthen extrapolated to embrace thediversity ofSegalenhimself: first, Segalentheart historian rescuing non-Buddhist statuary from academic oblivion (inan essay by NickPearce); second, Segalen asonehalf ofa creative relationship, byEdward J. Hughes (Segalen-Loti), SusanMarson (Segalen-Michaux) Philip Weller (SegalenDebussy ) andKenneth White (Segalen-Rimbaud). Someofthese pairings existed in reallifeas friendships, whilst theothers arelinks madebetween thecorpus of Segalen's work andthat ofanother. Therelationship between the body ofSegalen's workand hisphysical bodyis dissected in theessays byNoel Cordonier and Christian Doumet, whoboth suggest that thebody ofthemancanbeseendirectly as theliving texture ofhistexts, expressed through syntax, rhythms andnarrative structures. Finally, MarieDolle examines, in thelittle-discussed context ofhis religious beliefs, howSegalenswork cangiverisetoa diversity ofreadings ofhis historical person. Inattempting tocapture the diversity oftheir subject, these essays alsosucceed as accounts ofthegeneric diversity ofSegalen's output. However, in thelastanalysis, thisdiversity is shown to converge towards a unity: Segalen's poetry, prose andgeographical writings canallbesaidtofit into thegenre oftravel writing, andthis clarifies a number ofissues. Forinstance, thebody (person)-body (work) relationship gains a particular relevance intravel writing, asitswriter isone whomoves simultaneously through time, spaceandpage,andthetext becomes what SusanMarson calls'a mapofthesubject inhisdesires andregrets' (p. XI4). Thesediverse readings doindeed result ina detailed mapof'Segalen', andmake the volume a valuable contribution toscholars interested inboth Segalen andinhis favourite genre. UNIVERSITY OFWARWICK AKANE KAWAKAMI ICAuteur en souffrance: Essai sur...