Mémoire et autobiographie dans l ’œuvre de Claude Simon
Memory and autobiography in the works of Claude Simon

Summary/Abstract: Memory occupies a privileged place in works of Claude Simon. Through an analysis of Les Georgiques, L ’Acacia and Le Jardin des Plantes, our goal in this article is to show that Claude Simon did not seek to write an “autofiction” or a “historical novel”, but to write a literary autobiography. His ultimate goal was not to “recover lost time”, but to inscribe “lost time” in literature. This study demonstrates that the new form of autobiography initiated by Claude Simon is entirely distinct from a traditional autobiography. It is written by means of the writer’s tireless recourse to stimuli, that is to say by questioning texts written by people who have found themselves in similar situations. It is an auto-sensorio-graphy: the writing is essentially based on a description of sensations, not facts. It is also an auto-thanato-graphy since death is the central character.

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