Svět „tam dole“
The world "down there"

The image of the working class in Annie Ernaux's Place and Didier Eribon's Return to Reims

Author(s): Matylda Strand
Subject(s): Language and Literature Studies, Theory of Literature, Sociology of Literature
Published by: Univerzita Palackého v Olomouci
Keywords: Annie Ernaux; Didier Eribon; Pierre Bourdieu; autobiography; autofiction; sociological approach to literature
Summary/Abstract: The present paper analyses the portrayal of the working class in two texts: A Man’s Place by Annie Ernaux and Returning to Reims by Didier Eribon. Both texts draw heavily on the thought of the sociologist Pierre Bourdieu, and the study thus uses concepts introduced by Bourdieu to interpret the selected works. Through their personal journey, the narrators attempt to restate the image of the social class from which they originate. The description of the working class is not reduced to economic differences as sociocultural differences are emphasized. The themes raised by the texts extend well beyond the literary field: the description of the marginalized subject is deemed a political act.

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