| Summary: | The purpose of this thesis is to focus on one of the main characteristics of Annie Ernaux's works, namely the blurring of boundaries between self and others. Basing my approach on Rimbaud's famous Je est un autre ("I is another person") as well as on Foucault's definition of transgression as a blurring of boundaries, I examine the various levels of transgression at work in Ernaux. My methodology includes a study of thematic and stylistic features, narrative strategies and identity, intextextuality, paratext and reader-response. My corpus includes not only Ernaux's works of fiction, semi-fiction or autobiography, but also various critical or journalistic pieces as well as interviews, including an unpublished interview with the writer. The structure of my thesis reflects the blurring of boundaries between the private and the public spheres in Ernaux's works. Starting with the divisions at work within the first person (chapter 1), I then examine a semi-private sphere- the world of characters inspired by real life and by fiction - in chapter 2. The last three chapters explore more public areas: reader-responses (chapter 3), the interactions between the first person and the critics ( chapter 4 ), and finally the potential of journaux- diaries as well as journalistic writings- in Ernaux ( chapter 5).In conclusion, I argue that the narrative voice in Ernaux is not only transpersonal, but also transgressive and trans-generic, and that the acts of reading and writing lie at the heart of the links between je (I) and les autres ( others).
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