'Exorcising the Dagger': Competition, Envy and Resentment in the Work of Nelly Arcan

Author(s)

  • Francesca Caiazzo Université de Sherbrooke

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.51777/relief11445

Keywords:

Nelly Arcan, competition, envy, resentment, rivalry, gender studies

Abstract

This paper focuses on the role played by envy in Canadian novelist Nelly Arcan’s Folle [Hysteric] (2004) and À ciel ouvert [Breakneck] (2007). By showing that female characters evolve in a world where competition is the main form of social interaction and where the value of female subjects results from their sexualized body, especially through auto-objectification and cosmetic surgery, this paper examines the ways in which envy and ressentiment’s inner workings lead to a tragic outcome. By creating a universe which can be called dystopic, Arcan’s writing invites us to rethink competition and rivalry in her female characters as a sign of insecurity and ontological uncertainty.

Author Biography

  • Francesca Caiazzo, Université de Sherbrooke

    Francesca Caiazzo is a PhD candidate in French Studies and a research assistant at the Université de Sherbrooke (Canada), as well as a literary translator. Specialising in modern literature (Université Lumière Lyon 2) and in gender studies (Université Paris 8), her research focuses on different writings and representations of sexuality in francophone contemporary literature.

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Published

2021-12-27

Issue

Vol. 15 No. 2 (2021): Intertextualities in the works of André and Simone Schwarz-Bart

Section

Varia

License

Copyright (c) 2021 Francesca Caiazzo

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

All articles published in RELIEF appear in Open Access under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC-BY 4.0). Under this licence, authors retain ownership of the copyright of their article, but they allow its unrestricted use, provided it is properly cited.

How to Cite

“’Exorcising the Dagger’: Competition, Envy and Resentment in the Work of Nelly Arcan” (2021) RELIEF - REVUE ÉLECTRONIQUE DE LITTÉRATURE FRANÇAISE, 15(2), pp. 154–168. doi:10.51777/relief11445.