Language limitations impose challenges to artistic productions. The “unspeakable” and “unrepresentable” refer to the moments when language barriers become obstacles to conveying meaning. How do contemporary Francophone literatures and film deal with the complexities of the representation of unrepresentable things? How do artists portray something that exceeds meaning, such as violence, which, according to Jean-Luc Nancy, “does not participate in any order of reasons […] does not transform what it assaults; rather, it takes away its form and meaning”?
This interdisciplinary work examines the representation of violence and trauma in contemporary literature and film and brings together the representation of three different types of violence: extreme, social, and intimate. The artist’s acknowledgement of the limitations of language in such contexts affects the representation itself and enables a different kind of representation: alternative discourses that would sensitize readers/spectators. These new discourses make them active participants in the symbolization process, allowing them to fill the semantic, unrepresentable gaps through their imagination.
Part I focuses on extreme violence in Rithy Panh’s, Véronique Tadjo’s, and Kivu Ruhorahoza’s films and narratives on the Cambodian and Rwandan Genocides. By examining these artists’ position as by turns both insiders and outsiders, I demonstrate that their strategy of alternating perspectives allows them to represent genocide in a more objective way. In Part II, taking the works of Shenaz Patel, Ananda Devi, Marie-Célie Agnant, and Faïza Guène as departing points, I explore the use of madness and humor as narrative discourses. The freedom given by humor and madness allows these authors to blur, negotiate, and criticize the socially constructed perceptions of what is normal and abnormal, sane and insane. Lastly, in works by Annie Ernaux, Ananda Devi, and Maïssa Bey, the practice of writing the self is a way to confront traumas, which become an interface between individual and collective histories. Revisiting violent and traumatic experiences through writing serves as catharsis, ultimately allowing the authors to reconcile with themselves. Juxtaposing these different types of unspeakable/unrepresentable human experiences, this research broadens the understanding of how artistic production can transgress the limitations of language. / 2021-11-12T00:00:00Z
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bu.edu/oai:open.bu.edu:2144/38794 |
| Date | 12 November 2019 |
| Creators | Alkan, Didem |
| Contributors | Cazenave, Odile |
| Source Sets | Boston University |
| Language | French |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis/Dissertation |
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