L’un contre l’autre : la dialectique de l’auteur et de la lectrice chez Serge Doubrovsky
Since Serge Doubrovsky coined the term « autofiction » to describe his own novel on the back cover blurb of Fils (1977), doubrovskian studies have tended to focus on the literary genres issues implied by his neologism. Consequently, another aspect of the writer’s work, and a quite crucial one, was somewhat neglected: the relationship with the reader, which is not only represented and acted out by the characters in doubrovskian autofictions but also linked to a another complex, tempestuous and inextricable relationship, that of man and woman. “I write male, read myself female”, says the doubrovskian narrator, who happens to take part, under our very eyes, in a series of passionate relationships with mates that are also readers of his works. Repeated from novel to novel, the mise en scène of the rapport between the doubrovskian hero and his lady companion of the moment reminds us of Doubrovsky’s hypotheses in Corneille ou la dialectique du héros (1963), which were inspired by the Hegelian master-slave Dialectics. This study thus concentrates on the representation of the dialectical relation between male author and female reader in Doubrovsky’s autofictions. After a brief survey and description of the tools used by the author in order to construct his own Model Reader (First section), our three other principal sections will focus on the analysis of Fils and Un amour de soi (1977 and 1982; Section Two); Le livre brisé and l’Après-vivre (1989 and 1994; Section Three); and finally Laissé pour conte (1999; Section Four). We will ultimately attempt to demonstrate the doubrovskian dialectal theme’s literary richness as well as its social and historical implications – the author’s reflexion widens with each episode, touching on questions of reader-response and reception of the literary work, while the master-slave motif resonates in the History of twentieth century Europe, mainly the Second World War and the Holocaust.
Doubrovsky Doubrovsky Autofiction Autofiction Narratology Reader-response theories Literary genres theory Gender studies Dialectique Hegelian Dialectics