La réception du témoignage à l’épreuve du silence. L’aîné des orphelins de Tierno Monénembo
The testimonial reception to the test of silence
Author(s): Caroline GiguèreSubject(s): Language and Literature Studies, Literary Texts, Studies of Literature, French Literature, Theory of Literature
Published by: Katolicki Uniwersytet Lubelski Jana Pawła II, Instytut Filologii Romańskiej & Wydawnictwo Werset
Keywords: silence; genocide; Rwanda; testimony; reader-response; criticism
Summary/Abstract: From the perspective of the reader-response criticism, this article underlines the ethical and esthetical tension between the duty of memory and the unspeakable in the context of the project « Rwanda : écrire par devoir de mémoire » and specificly in the novel L’aîné des orphelins by Tierno Monénembo. Although the « horizon » of expectations typical to the commitment toward the duty of memory is reinforced by the peritext (Genette, 1987), Monembo’s novel challenges the reader’s expectations by silencing and delaying the personnal story of young narrator-survivor Faustin.This stepback from direct violence allows the novel to focus on structual forms of violence (Galtung 2010) and urges the public to question his responsability in the testimonial reception.
Journal: Quêtes littéraires
- Issue Year: 2017
- Issue No: 7
- Page Range: 192-200
- Page Count: 9
- Language: French