Grief and Mourning in Contemporary Parental Récits de deuil

自世纪之交以来，法国文学创作转向了“关系文学”，其中“脆弱的个体”分享了他们的苦难经历（Gefen，2017）。鉴于最近的批评注意力集中在疾病和残疾的代表性，在这些故事，我的论文将采取一种新的方法，并检查悲伤和哀悼的帐户，不仅打破禁忌谈论死亡，但具体处理的经验，长期以来一直被描述为无法形容的：失去一个孩子。虽然有几位作家探讨了法国社会对死亡、安乐死和姑息治疗的态度转变，但文学在理解悲伤和哀悼的复杂经历方面的作用仍然明显缺乏。我的论文将建立在两个最近的专着，由拉什沃思（2016年）和埃尔斯纳（2017年），这已经开始深入分析这一主题。然而，这些研究只集中在漫长的19世纪或更早的文本，我的项目将探索新形式的法国文学在理解损失的经验的作用。我的研究重点是处理失去孩子的自传体文本，这与拉什沃思和埃尔斯纳的研究有着根本的不同，他们避免了这种视角。此外，虽然“母亲项目”，在NUI梅努斯，已经触及了泛欧洲文化的流产或死胎话语，我的工作将提供当代法国recits de deuil的第一个扩展的文学分析，从母亲和父亲的角度。语料库，处理悲伤的父亲和母亲的反应，突然，意外的损失或损失，通过绝症，已被选择，以确保这些独特的观点是特权。需要考虑的叙事作品包括知名和不太知名的作家的作品，如：玛丽·达里尤塞克、索菲·道尔、菲利普·福里斯特、卡米尔·劳伦斯和乔治·萨林斯。在最后一章中，我将比较网上发表的父母的回忆录与关于悲伤和哀悼的文学叙述，以分析格芬的主张，即“关系文学”导致了“普通文学”和“高级文学”之间的区别的崩溃。以下研究问题将构成论文的五个章节：文学在产生知识的损失的经验是什么作用？亲身经历过失去孩子的作者与那些没有经历过的作者有什么不同？母亲和父亲的悲伤叙述在风格、内容和语言方面有何不同？在失去孩子后，写作如何影响愈合过程？关于法国文学景观的变化，当代的《第二交响曲》告诉了我们什么？为了解决这些问题，我将采取一种三方方法。第一，对父母的回忆录的细读将置于影响其写作的社会文化背景之下。其次，该项目将得到最近关于家庭背景下哀悼过程的社会学和理论出版物的支持（Beauthéac，2017）和创伤记忆的阶段（Freud，1917; Abraham & Torok，1987; Caruth，1996; Figley，2012）。最后，论文的文学维度将通过检查格芬的文学作为“réparatrice”的想法和文学在使失去的亲人不朽中的作用来解决（Glaudes & Rabaté，2005）。布列塔尼的儿科姑息治疗单位的确认安置机会将为论文提供信息，并为我的研究提供传播手段。我的工作的这种实际应用，在姑息治疗领域，将完全符合最近爱丁堡伴侣中确定的两个优先事项到关键医学人文（2016）：超越英语世界，直接进入护理提供。

Since the turn of the century, there has been a shift in French literary production towards 'relational literature' in which the 'individu fragile' shares their experience of suffering (Gefen, 2017). Whereas recent critical attention has focused on representations of illness and disability in these récits, my thesis will take a new approach and examine grief and mourning in accounts that not only break the taboo on talking about death, but deal specifically with an experience that has long been characterised as unspeakable: the loss of a child. Although several writers have explored the shifting social attitudes towards death, euthanasia and palliative care in France, the role of literature in understanding the complex experiences of grief and mourning remains remarkably absent from the critical landscape. My thesis will build on two recent monographs, by Rushworth (2016) and Elsner (2017), which have initiated in-depth analysis of this theme. However, where these studies focused exclusively on texts from the long nineteenth century or earlier, my project will explore the role of new forms of French literature in understanding experiences of loss. In focusing on autobiographical texts that deal with the loss of a child, my project will also differ fundamentally from those by Rushworth and Elsner, who avoid this perspective. Moreover, while 'The Motherhood Project', at NUI Maynooth, has touched on pan-European cultural discourses of miscarriage or stillbirth, my work will provide the first extended literary analysis of contemporary French récits de deuil, from both motherly and fatherly perspectives. The corpus, dealing with the grief of fathers and mothers in reaction to a sudden, unanticipated loss or a loss through terminal illness, has been chosen to ensure that these distinctive perspectives are privileged. Narratives to be considered include works by well- and lesser-known authors, such as: Marie Darrieussecq, Sophie Daull, Philippe Forest, Camille Laurens and Georges Salines. In a final chapter, I will compare parental témoignages, published online, with literary narratives on grief and mourning, in order to analyse Gefen's claim that 'la littérature relationnelle' has brought about a collapse in distinctions between 'la littérature "ordinaire"' and 'la "haute" littérature'. The following research questions will structure the five thesis chapters: what is the role of literature in generating knowledge of the experience of loss? How do authors who have personally experienced the loss of a child write differently from those who have not? How do mothers' and fathers' grief narratives differ, in terms of style, content and language? How does writing impact upon the healing process, following the loss of a child? What do contemporary récits de deuil tell us about the shifting French literary landscape? In order to address these questions, I will take a tripartite methodological approach. Firstly, close readings of parental récits de deuil will be situated within the socio-cultural context that informs their writing. Secondly, the project will be supported by recent sociological and theoretical publications on the processes of mourning in family contexts (Beauthéac, 2017) and on the stages of traumatic memory (Freud, 1917; Abraham & Torok, 1987; Caruth, 1996; Figley, 2012). Finally, the literary dimensions of the thesis will be addressed by examining Gefen's idea of literature as 'réparatrice' and the role of literature in immortalising lost loved ones (Glaudes & Rabaté, 2005).A confirmed placement opportunity with a Paediatric Palliative Care Unit in Brittany will inform the thesis and provide a means of dissemination for my research. This practical application of my work, in the field of palliative care, will fit neatly with two of the priorities identified in the recent Edinburgh Companion to the Critical Medical Humanities (2016): moving beyond the anglophone world and feeding directly into care provision.