Abstract
This paper compares Catherine Cusset’s L’autre qu’on adorait (2016) and Régis Jauffret’s Lacrimosa (2008), as examples of 21st-century novels in which suicide is the central focus. Recent texts tend to move away from earlier portrayals of suicide as a philosophical or aesthetic gesture towards a deeper engagement with the causes and consequences of suicide. Placing these highly literary autofictions within a wider context of cultural interest in suicide extending to popular genres, I suggest that their formal complexity allows them to engage critically with stereotypes, and represent the unknowability of the suicidal mind. I also argue that literary representation of mental illness should be seen as part of a broader public discourse that influences social attitudes.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 173-190 |
| Journal | Essays in French Literature and Culture |
| Issue number | 58 |
| Publication status | Published - 1 Oct 2021 |
Keywords
- Suicide
- Jauffret
- Cusset
- Autofiction
- Medical Humanities
Access to Document
- Author Accepted Manuscript EFLAC Medical Humanities
Copyright © 2021 University of Western Australia. This work has been made available online in accordance with publisher policies or with permission. Permission for further reuse of this content should be sought from the publisher or the rights holder. This is the author created accepted manuscript following peer review and may differ slightly from the final published version. The final published version of this work is available at https://search.informit.org/doi/epdf/10.3316/informit.318170949641341.