Extract
[...] She adds this: 'His imagination is my reality'. For her, meaning can only come from what has been lived and it is from a trauma that one knows how to put words on a pain. Finally, if we prolong our reflection, it's like trying to imagine a new color, it would be indescribable to the human mind. So, imagining a pain that one does not know can also be impossible. Finally, we can prolong this idea by thinking about the place of lies and truth in fiction, taking as an example the same debate. [...]
[...] Finally, the fictional work can be confused with autobiography through the author's readings of which he cannot refer without knowing them. For example, Jules Vallès in his work titled L'Enfant evokes Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe, precisely including indices of the work. For example, it refers to the character of Friday, the young cannibal native. Moreover, we have the feeling that the young character rubs off on Robinson, as if they merged together and thus as if reality blended with fiction. [...]
[...] In fact, as the example given on the debate between Marie Darrieussecq and Camille Laurens, there are 'themes' that cannot be eligible for fiction as long as the author has not lived them. And sometimes, if we try to bring them too close, we can create a blurring of genres with an inability to define a new literary genre concretely. Bibliography Albert, CAMUS, The Stranger, Paris, Gallimard, 1971. Marcel, PROUST, Swann's Way, Paris, Pocket, 2018. Michel, HOUELLEBECQ, The Map and the Territory, Paris, Flammarion, 2016. Annie, ERNAUX, La Place, Paris, Folio, 1886. Annie, ERNAUX, The Frozen Woman, Paris, Folio, 1987. [...]
[...] In fact, an onomastic change can be established to blur the tracks, but autobiography will still be present. We can cite, for example, the case of The Stranger by Albert Camus. According to his mother's anecdotes, his father was forced to witness an execution and upon returning home, he vomited all morning. He developed a denunciation of the death penalty, which Camus also advocated for. Moreover, his father's early death had a noticeable impact on his works, particularly from a psychoanalytic perspective, with the character of Meursault seeking a father figure in Thomas Perez, his mother's loved one at the asylum. [...]
[...] In fact, within autobiography, the reading pact contains a truth and authenticity. And for fiction, there is a pact of fictionalization that is established. These are golden rules to differentiate them. Regarding fiction, we can mention 'The Suspended Consent of Disbelief' by Coleridge, or the fact of temporarily accepting to believe the presented fiction, while knowing that it is a fiction. On the other hand, if the author has not lived a established trauma in the created fiction, this can present a very dense debate. [...]
