From Distancing Effect to Identification: Irony and Empathy in Olivia Rosenthal's Work

Abstract

This article is based on the hypothesis that Olivia Rosenthal's narrative work follows an evolution from irony to empathy. There is an evolutionary dynamic in Rosenthal’s work, from the early narratives characterized by distancing processes, such as irony and parody, and breaking any form of referential illusion, to more recent works focused on mechanisms of adhesion, empathy or identification. This study intends to shows that this evolution is also that of French narrative prose and literary studies in recent decades, from irony as a dominant aesthetic value to its decline.