Grief and Mourning in Contemporary Parental Récits de deuil

自世纪之交以来，法国文学创作已转向“关系文学”，在这种文学中，“脆弱的个体”分享他们的苦难经历(Gefen，2017)。虽然最近批评性的注意力集中在这些传记中对疾病和残疾的表现上，但我的论文将采取一种新的方法，在描述中审视悲伤和哀悼，这些描述不仅打破了谈论死亡的禁忌，而且特别涉及一种长期以来被描述为无法形容的经历：失去一个孩子。尽管几位作家探讨了法国社会对死亡、安乐死和姑息治疗不断变化的态度，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批评性的图景。我的论文将建立在拉什沃斯(2016)和埃尔斯纳(2017)最近的两本专著的基础上，这两本专著对这一主题进行了深入的分析。然而，当这些研究完全集中在漫长的十九世纪或更早的文本时，我的项目将探索法国文学的新形式在理解失落经历中的作用。在专注于处理失去孩子的自传体文本方面，我的项目也将从根本上不同于拉什沃斯和埃尔斯纳的作品，他们避免了这种观点。此外，虽然NUI Maynooth的《母亲计划》触及了关于流产或死产的泛欧洲文化话语，但我的作品将首次从母亲和父亲的角度对当代法国的历史进行扩展的文学分析。选择语料库是为了确保这些独特的视角是有特权的，这些语料库处理的是父亲和母亲在突然、意外或因绝症而失去亲人时的悲痛。将考虑的叙事作品包括著名和不太知名的作家的作品，如：玛丽·达里乌塞克、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，我将把网上发表的父母语录与关于悲痛和哀悼的文学叙事进行比较，以分析格芬的说法，即‘la littérature relationnelle’导致了‘la littérature’和‘la’High‘litérature’之间的区别的崩溃。以下研究问题将构成论文的五个章节：文献在产生失落经验的知识方面起什么作用？亲身经历过失去孩子的作家和没有经历过的作家有什么不同？母亲和父亲的悲伤叙述在风格、内容和语言上有何不同？在失去孩子之后，写作对康复过程有什么影响？关于不断变化的法国文学格局，当代简历告诉了我们什么？为了解决这些问题，我将采取三方方法。首先，仔细阅读父母的简历将处于影响他们写作的社会文化背景中。其次，该项目将得到最近关于家庭环境中的哀悼过程(Beauthéac，2017)和创伤记忆阶段(Freud，1917；Abraham&Torok，1987；Caruth，1996；Figley，2012)的社会学和理论出版物的支持。最后，本论文的文学层面将通过考察格芬的文学观念和文学在使逝去的亲人永垂不朽中的作用来解决(Glaude&Rabaté，2005)。布列塔尼一家儿科姑息治疗中心的确定安置机会将为我的研究提供信息和传播手段。我的工作在姑息治疗领域的这种实际应用，将恰好符合最近的爱丁堡危重医学人文指南(2016)中确定的两个优先事项：超越英语世界，直接提供护理服务。

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.