writing_womans_lives_symposium_paper_book_v2

Some critics supposed that I meant Memoirs of a Dutiful Daughter as an object lesson
for young girls; my main desire really was to discharge a debt. The present work, at all
events; has no moral purpose. I have endeavoured to put down the facts concerning my
life: I make no a priori assumptions, though I believe that truth in any form can be both
interesting and useful. 4
In this expression, which can indeed be called “programme statement” (although still with some
hesitation, because a strongly non‐systematic nature of existential reflection should be
remembered), a rejection of a vision of didactic or moralistic literature can be clearly seen. (She
speaks directly: “Je ne vais pas m’attarder sur la littérature engagée. On en a assez parlé” 5 ). Simone
de Beauvoir's questions both thesis novel and engaged literature, seeing a certain lie in them. The
role of literature is not to moralize the reader, to show her/him the “right way” or to present an
objective truth, but (as she will say in Que peut la littérature?) the author has rather to portray
subjective experience. In her lectures Que peut la littérature? And in Mon experience d’écrivain
Beauvoir states that the aim of literature is to unveil (dévoiler), not to present to reader the universal
truth. Ursula Tidd considering Beauvoir’s notion of autobiography wrote that in the 1966 lecture
Beauvoir also reflects on her autobiographical method. She comments on her use of a chronological
method and her documentary approach to recreating her life, which is a further indicator of her
testimonial approach to autobiography.
It seems that it can be said that, for Beauvoir, the literature is a meeting of two subjectivities. It is
thanks to it that an agreement is reached, a birth of a certain relationship between the writer and
the reader, though it is a quite specific agreement or relationship. First of all, in the field of literature,
there is never a complete acceptance of the author's vision by the reading person. The reader in the
act of reading maintains its own autonomy, does not imagine to be the author, does not feel exactly
the same, but rather looks at the reality and relationships in the world from the perspective of the
writer. In other words – something (certain experiences) becomes mine, albeit they remain as
experiences of the author. Therefore, there is no room for objectification in literature. Beauvoir calls
this the “miracle of literature.” The reader learns through literature a taste of another life – “goût d'
une autre vie.”
Obviously, every experience is a singular experience, though – and only to a certain
extent – literature helps to overcome this singularity (but “a une séparation qui reste irréductible”).
This identification can be understood as a reader's temporary taking of the author's position in its
relationships with the world and in its experiences. According to Beauvoir, we experience reality as a
certain duration or, more precisely, continuous becoming; it is a certain process that can never be
stopped and objectified nor presented in an objective manner – the reality will always remains
fragmented. The reality is not a structured entirety – it is a set (a spinning) of singular, individual
experiences. The writer can always represent only her/his own situation and relationship with the
world. Each situation is singular – because it is rooted in the individual's past, in its social class or
state/nation membership, in its current existential projects – in all that constitutes/creates our
individuality.
All of this, of course, determines each situation and every existential project, but it does not mean
an inability of expressing these experiences. Here you can see an, call it, Heideggerian moment in the
reflection of Simone de Beauvoir. These experiences can be transferred to the reader by the writer. It
becomes possible due to the phenomenon of speech. After all, it is it which is the phenomenon that
is at once singular and universal, and is accessible to everyone. It is in language/speech that the
world is unveiled – but it's an unveiling through action (“exercée par des hommes, pour des hommes,
en vue de leur dévoiler le monde, ce dévoilement étant une action“ 6 )
Simone de Beauvoir perceives language in a rather specific manner – as a phenomenon that
includes into human community. She states directly – unhappiness finds words to express itself. And
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