Visualising Stereotypes: Subversion and Sexuality in the Works of Robbe-Grillet

Abstract

The work of Alain Robbe-Grillet is laden with references to sexuality, and in some of his works, sexual stereotypes are strongly linked to myths or stereotypes of exoticism. This is true of two of his works that are set in the Mediterranean; his first film, L'Immortelle, and most recent screenplay, C'est Gradiva qui vous appelle, both of which can be considered re-workings of Wilhelm Jensen's Gradiva: A Pompeiian Fantasy. This paper analyses these works in the light of the works of the phenomenological philosopher Maurice Merleau-Ponty, whose notion of the phenomenological reduction allows for an assessment of the extent to which Robbe-Grillet succeeds in his stated aim of subverting stereotypical forms of novel writing and film making. Merleau-Ponty's account of sexuality, which has been challenged and adopted by feminist film critics in recent years, is also used to analyse Robbe-Grillet's depiction of the sexual stereotypes he aims to subvert.