Triumph over Silence: the Feminist Conquest of Ernauxian Literature
Abstract
The Nobel Prize jury that awarded Annie Ernaux in 2022 praised “the courage and clinical sharpness with which she reveals the roots, distances, and collective obstacles of personal memory.” These distances and collective barriers are evident in an issue that has historically been more than a hindrance for women: the silence imposed on them as an additional layer of the restrictions they were forced to accept. Women were confined to the private and family sphere, governed by men, and prohibited from speaking or expressing themselves. This analysis will examine several of Ernaux’s works (Ce qu’ils disent ou rien, La femme gelée, Passion simple, Se perdre, L’Occupation, and especially L’Événement) to uncover the writer’s rebellion against these taboos surrounding feminine topics. Through her writing, Ernaux has broken this imposed silence, asserting her voice in a way that has contributed to the liberation of herself and of women more broadly.
Downloads
Article download
License
In order to support the global exchange of knowledge, the journal Thélème. Revista Complutense de Estudios Franceses is allowing unrestricted access to its content as from its publication in this electronic edition, and as such it is an open-access journal. The originals published in this journal are the property of the Complutense University of Madrid and any reproduction thereof in full or in part must cite the source. All content is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 use and distribution licence (CC BY 4.0). This circumstance must be expressly stated in these terms where necessary. You can view the summary and the complete legal text of the licence.