Du souvenir à l’image : enjeux narratifs dans L’Amant
From memory to image – the narrative technique in The Lover

Summary/Abstract: In Marguerite Duras’ works the boundaries between text and image become fluid. This is particularly evident in The Lover, where descriptions of events and characters resemble yellowed photographs, constantly evoking images. The author strives to recreate faithfully certain past incidents, particularly from childhood and youth, such as meeting a Chinese millionaire, which was of paramount importance in her life. However, she is inconsistent in this and does not always follow typical rules of writing a semi-autobiographical work. She attempts to reconstruct the story of her life, emphasising the image in text and its perception by the character and the reader. Breaking of the "autobiographical pact" by blending fact and fiction, truth and falsehood implies a novel narrative technique, visible e.g. in the characteristic duality of the narrator, who is also the protagonist, present in the first and third person, either the subject or an object. This is an intriguing vision of reality, understood as an image locked in memories, created with original narrative solutions, where the reader becomes a spectator.

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