Réjean Ducharme, un écrivain de la « résistance à la disparition de soi »
In this master’s thesis, I approach Rejean Ducharme’s novels through the concept of « resistance to the disappearance of the self ». This theme is derived from the literary essays of Milan Kundera, in which he contends that the novel is a special place of resistance to « the forgetting of being » (Heidegger), and works against the unfortunate tendency of modern thought to reduce being to a purely scientific understanding and leave aside what Husserl called the « Lifeworld » (« die Lebenswelt »). In the works of Ducharme, protagonist/narrators exist in a state of tension, and engage in a sort of resistance against a vast and abstract enemy who can barely be perceived. This gives rise to one of the principal hypotheses of this thesis : this enemy generates « the forgetting of being ». This particular approach also has the effect of placing Ducharme in the context of « world literature » rather than in Quebec’s national/cultural context. While I perform a close reading of Ducharme’s novels, this memoir also serves as a reflection on the novel as a form of art – a reflection guided by Kundera’s essays, and by a few other writers/thinkers (Duras, Deleuze).
Milan Kundera Forgetting of being The art of the novel World literature Literary posture Resistance to the disappearance of the self Self-annihilation Enemy