«Paisible sauvagerie» : Les enfants et la mort dans la littérature et le film français modernes

Abstract

I examine the intersection of childhood and death in four works of modern French literature and film: La Maison de Claudine (Colette), W… (Perec), Les Mots ( Sartre), and Jeux interdits (Clément). Drawing on the French tradition of psychoanalysis and Freud’s theory of the “death instinct,” I examine these young characters and argue that their concretization of death is far more courageous and cathartic than society’s tendency to deny it. I also apply the image of the child exploring death as a metaphor for the modern French author, whose creative power stems from his appraisal and acceptance of personal loss.