Nina Bouraoui, autofiction and the search for selfhood / Rosie MacLachlan.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

MacLachlan, Rosie, 1987- author.

Series:

Studies in contemporary women's writing ; v. 5.

Studies in contemporary women's writing

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Bouraoui, Nina--Criticism and interpretation.

Bouraoui, Nina.

Criticism and interpretation.

Genre:

Criticism, interpretation, etc.

Physical Description:

vi, 172 pages ; 23 cm.

Place of Publication:

Oxford : Peter Lang, [2016]

Summary:

The motif of the 'identity quest' features strongly in much contemporary French women's writing, but nowhere more so than in the work of Nina Bouraoui. Author of numerous books since 1991 and winner of the 2005 Prix Renaudot, Bouraoui persistently explores the question of self-expression in her work, experimenting with a variety of self-representational modes and emphasising the importance of language to the construction of her sense of self. Considering the textual identities produced through Bouraoui's work in the period 1999-2011, this book examines how self-referential writing can represent a crucial act of resistance to a number of contemporary problems, including race, gender and social isolation. Using the work of Monique Wittig and Judith Butler to theorise the transformative potential of the literary text, the author proposes autofiction as a uniquely unrestricted space, which for writers such as Bouraoui may provide the only medium through which to formulate a coherent and manageable sense of self. Book jacket.

Contents:

Part I Acts of Resistance: Rewriting Gender and Sexuality 27

Chapter 1 Garçon manqué: Resisting Language as Violence 33

Chapter 2 La vie heureuse: Reappropriating the Self 53

Chapter 3 Poupée bella: Textual Escape 67

Part II Recovering from Loss: The Textual Return to Algeria 75

Chapter 4 Le jour du séisme: Broken Land, Broken Childhood 81

Chapter 5 Sauvage and Mes mauvaises pensées: Coming of Age in Algeria 91

Chapter 6 Sauvage and Mes mauvaises pensées: Leaving Childhood Behind 103

Part III Writing for Others? Relational Identity and the Textual Encounter 119

Chapter 7 Poupée bella and Avant les hommes: Escaping Isolation through Reading 127

Chapter 8 Appelez-moi par mon prénom: Textual Relations 135

Chapter 9 Nos baisers sont des adieux: Resolving the Quest 145.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9783034318471

3034318472

OCLC:

960940244

Publisher Number:

99970256482