Michel Leiris: De la quête de soi au refuge dans l'imaginaire

Abstract

The autobiographic Leirisian writing is characterised by a continuous oscillation between the fascination with intimacy and the cultural appeal, between the lure of the concrete and the calling of the imaginary. The author tends to avoid a direct contact with the reality, withdrawing within the space of imaginary susbstitutes which, through their unrelity and symbolic force, manage to offer him the feeling of ontological security. The writing is clearly influenced by the encyclopedic mood of the autobiographer who prefers to examine and portray the reality through the deforming lens provided by the cultural references, by the world of performance, by the dream-like or mythical universe. The connections of the writer with the world and with his own being are indirect, and the truth about his own self is accessible, most often, by the mediation of myth or fiction. Childhood, the sacred history, the history of France, legends and myths all create a universe in which Leiris hopes to find shelter against time’s passing and against his own anguish. Because the myth is the history of our own inwardness (Annick de Souzenelle), it is by means of the myth that the autobiographer will analyse his own ontological course. He tries to liberate himself from all complexes, drawing an inventory of the devouring myths which make him a prisoner of an illusive world. The myths of Oedip, Icar, the androgynous, Narcis, Don Juan, or Faust constitute the main stages undergone by the writer while searching for his own identity.

Rezumat

Demersul autobiografic leirisian stǎ sub semnul unei continue pendulǎri între seducţia intimitǎţii şi fascinaţia culturalǎ, între atracţia concretului şi chemarea imaginarului. Autorul are tendinţa de a evita contactul direct cu realitatea, retrǎgându-se în spaţiul substitutelor imaginare care, prin irealitatea şi forţa lor simbolicǎ, reuşesc sǎ-i ofere un sentiment de securitate ontologicǎ. Scriitura este vǎdit influenţatǎ de dispoziţia enciclopedicǎ a autobiografului, care preferǎ sǎ priveascǎ şi sǎ zugrǎveascǎ realul prin lentilele deformante, pe care i le oferǎ referinţele culturale, raportarea la lumea spectacolului, la universul oniric sau la cel mitic. Legǎturile scriitorului cu lumea şi cu propria-i fiinţǎ sunt indirecte, iar adevǎrul despre sine este accesibil, de cele mai multe ori, prin medierea mitului sau a ficţiunii. Copilǎria, istoria sfântǎ, istoria Franţei, legendele şi miturile formeazǎ o lume în care Leiris sperǎ sǎ se punǎ la adǎpost de trecerea timpului şi de propriile angoase. Pentru cǎ mitul este istoria interioritǎţii noastre (Annick de Souzenelle), prin el îşi va analiza autobiograful întregul traiect ontologic. El încearcǎ sǎ se elibereze de complexe, fǎcând un inventar al miturilor devorante, care îl fac prizonier al unei lumi iluzorii. Mitul lui Œdip, al lui Icar, al androginului, al lui Narcis, Don Juan sau Faust constitue principalele etape parcurse de scriitor în cǎutarea propriei identitǎţi.