CALL FOR PAPERS v. 18, n. 1, 2025

FILIATION NARRATIVES IN THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD

 

In 2025, we celebrate the 50th anniversary of the publication of Philippe Lejeune's highly influential book Le Pacte Autobiographique (Seuil, 1975), a work that marked a pivotal moment in autobiography studies. Lejeune, the theorist who revolutionized the studies of self-writing and brought renewed attention to a previously discredited genre, has continuously revisited and refined his concepts. Much like his reflections, the subject of his research has also undergone constant evolution. Half a century after the publication of Lejeune's seminal work, we find ourselves in an era where self-writing holds a central place in literary productions and is constantly being reshaped. In the French-speaking world, the publication and positive reception of Dictionnaire de l'autobiographie. Écritures de soi en langue française in 2017, edited by Françoise Simonet-Tenant, highlight the relevance of this literary form.

In the dossier “Filiation Narratives in the Contemporary World,” we aim to compile articles that examine works driven by the questioning or investigation of one's ancestry as a means of self-understanding. These narrators often grapple with an often problematic legacy to which they feel they are heirs, reflecting on the other to ultimately talk about themselves through a process of displacement. “The account of the other – father, mother, or another ancestor – serves as a necessary detour to reach oneself and understand one's place within this legacy: thus, the filiation narrative acts as a substitute for autobiography.” (Viart, 2009, p. 80).

In the mid-1990s, Dominique Viart coined the term "filiation narrative" [récit de filiation] to describe a significant number of publications addressing themes of filiation, legacy, and transmission, often employing recurring strategies. From Annie Ernaux to Leila Sebbar, Maryse Condé, and Annette Wieviorka, as well as Pierre Michon, Dany Laferrière, Émmanuel Carrère, and Édouard Louis, the filiation narrative has become one of the most prevalent forms of autobiographical expression today. In the Brazilian scene, writers such as Tatiana Salem Levy, Julián Fuks, Adriana Lisboa, José Henrique Bortoluci, Gabriel Abreu, Noemi Jaffe, Conceição Evaristo, Salim Miguel, and many others also contribute to this tradition.

Filiation narratives represent a broad trend that, despite encompassing various narratological approaches, can be seen as a period phenomenon, prevalent across different regions of the globalized world, comprising both referential and fictional texts. Within this wide spectrum, many works are set in historical contexts marked by extreme violence, such as the Shoah, mass genocides, Spanish-American dictatorships, slavery, or the plunder resulting from colonization. Parental figures also play central roles in works that address social mobility and the conflicts faced by class-displaced narrators.

The dossier aims to contribute to the reflection on filiation narratives as a recurring form of self-writing, from the 1980s onward, and especially in the first quarter of the 21st century. It also seeks to explore the echoes of filiation narratives in literature as a whole, not only within the realm of self-writing but also their impact on trends in contemporary fiction, where they have given rise to "filiation novels."

 

References

BAHIENSE, Andrea de C. Martins; CAMPOS, Laura Barbosa (Org). “Escrever a vida”: diálogos em torno de Annie Ernaux. Juiz de Fora: Editar, 2024.

BERND, Zilá. A persistência da memória: romances da anterioridade e seus modos de transmissão intergeracional. São Paulo: Ed. Besouro, 2018.

CAMPOS, Laura Barbosa. “Clémence Boulouque: a narrativa de filiação como escrita do trauma”. Matraga. Rio de Janeiro, v. 24, n. 42, set.-dez. 2017. Disponível em

https://doi.org/10.12957/matraga.2017.30222 Acesso em 16 de janeiro de 2025.

DEMANZE, Laurent. Encres orphelines. Pierre Bergounioux, Gérard Macé, Pierre Michon. Paris: José Corti, 2008, (« Les essais »).

DEMANZE, Laurent. Un nouvel âge de l’enquête: portraits de l’écrivain contemporain en enquêteur. Paris: Éditions Corti, 2019, (« Les essais »).

FIGUEIREDO, Eurídice. A nebulosa do (auto)biográfico. Vidas vividas, vidas escritas. Porto Alegre: Zouk, 2022.

FIGUEIREDO, Eurídice. “A narrativa de filiação de escritores judeus brasileiros”. In: CHIARELLI, Stefania; OLIVEIRA NETO, Godofredo de (Org.). Falando com estranhos: o estrangeiro e a literatura brasileira. Rio de Janeiro: 7Letras, 2016.

LEJEUNE, Philippe; NORONHA, Jovita Maria Gerheim (Org.). O pacto autobiográfico: de Rousseau à internet. Tradução de Jovita Maria Gerheim Noronha e Maria Inês Coimbra Guedes. Belo Horizonte: UFMG, 2008.

MELLO, A.M.L.(Org). Escritas do eu: introspecção, memória e ficção. Rio de Janeiro: 7Letras, 2013.

MUXEL, Anne. Individu et mémoire familiale. Paris : Nathan, 2002.

NORONHA, J. M. G. « Em nome do pai: La Dernière année de Philippe Vilain. » Organon, Porto Alegre, v. 29, n. 57, 2014. Disponível em:

https://seer.ufrgs.br/index.php/organon/article/view/48415 Acesso em: 16 jan. 2025.

SIMONET-TENANT, Françoise (Dir.). Dictionnaire de l’autobiographie. Écritures de soi en langue française. Paris : Honoré Champion, 2017.

PINÇONNAT, Crystel, TREVISAN, Carine (Dir.). Transmissions et Filiations. Revue des sciences humaines. Presses Universitaires du Septentrion, n.301, 2004.

VIART, Dominique, « Le silence des pères au principe du ‘récit de filiation’ ». Études françaises, 45(3), 95–112. Disponível em: https://doi.org/10.7202/038860ar Acesso em: 16 jan. 2025.

VIART, Dominique; MERCIER, Bruno. La littérature française au présent: héritage, modernité, mutations. Paris: Bordas, 2009

VÉRON, Laélia ; ABIVEN, Karine. Trahir et venger. Paradoxes des récits de transfuges de classe. Paris : La Découverte, 2024.

 

GUEST EDITORS

Dr. Ana Maria Lisboa de Mello (UFRJ-CNPq - Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil)

Dr. Clara Lévy (Université Paris 8 - Paris, France)

Dr. Laura Barbosa Campos (UERJ - Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil)

Doctoral student Mariana Rennhack Pires (PUCRS - Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil)

 

SUBMISSION DATES: 02/01/2025 to 05/15/2025