Shifting perspectives: innovative narrative tense usage in Marguerite Duras's 'Moderato cantabile', Patrick Modiano's 'Rue des Boutiques Obscures' and Marie Darrieussecq's 'Naissance des fantômes'

Abstract

In this article I examine the innovative use of narrative tenses made by three well-known French novelists from successive generations, Marguerite Duras, Patrick Modiano and Marie Darrieussecq, in the context of the literary identity quest. I first summarize the relevant background from the field of linguistics, emphasizing the importance of Anne Judge’s recent contribution to the study of narrative tense systems. I then examine a major work by each of my selected authors in the light of this research, showing how the shifting perspectives of the postmodern search for self are reflected in their adventurous choice of narrative tenses. I suggest that examples of multifocality, as defined by Judge, can be found in these three novels and also elsewhere in the writers’ fiction.