The social theater in Son nom d’avant by Hélène Lenoir

Abstract

This paper proposes a transdisciplinary approach to the problem of identity, more specifically, the question of hidden identity, constructed and represented by the individual-actor in the great theater of life with and among others. Through one of Hélène Lenoir’s most remarkable works, Son nom d’avant, we will try to explain the characters’ attempts first to adapt to social roles imposed by an old family tradition, and second to adjust their social identities to situational demands. Social relations appear as a source of weakness or torment for characters continually divided between their “real identities” (Goffman, 1977) –shaped by their desires and aspirations– and their “social identities” (Goffman, 1977), constructed from the identity of the group, the family, the neighborhood, or simply from the other’s requirements and regulations.