| Marguerite Duras's writing is analogous to the surrealist endeavor, yet, up to the present time, no in-depth study exists that explores Duras's filiation with Surrealism. Several brief but significant articles, footnotes, and references to Surrealism in her works have set the groundwork for such a study. Building on these articles and books, I propose here a more detailed analysis of Duras's relationship to the male dominated literary domain of Surrealism. I want to show that this approach will allow a greater understanding of her work and broaden the realm of surrealist aesthetics. There are many areas of convergence to explore. Duras and the surrealists share a similar quest for the universal or absolute. In each case, the desired effect of writing evokes a strong emotional reaction on the part of the reader. They both appeal to the depths of the unconscious to find new meaning, and they equally privilege the significance of l'attente for love, and of course, la folie. Madness ultimately leads us to the surrealist concept of l'amour fou. This is the type of love that expresses desires that defy the control of social norms or reason. In her literary universe, Marguerite Duras, expands the surrealist notion of amour fou by replacing the male language used to express feminine sexuality, and renders this language feminine. To study this, I shall in turn examine the degree to which, in Les Impudents, La Vie tranquille, Un Barrage contre le Pacifique, Le Marin de Gibraltar, Les Petits chevaux de Tarquinia, Moderato cantabile, L'Amante anglaise, Detruire dit-elle, Le Navire night, Emily L., and C'est tout, Duras expands or transforms surrealist principles and creates a new realm that translates the female experience. Duras's work thus encourages a reexamination of the surrealist movement that includes the feminine unconscious which finds its place in the realm of silence. For Duras, the end was always the beginning, and the ultimate silence at which her work aimed was hinted at from the beginning. With her final text C'est tout in mind, I would suggest a re-evaluation of the durassian corpus based on a comparison of the ultimate silence of her texts to the surrealist ideal of the marvelous. As such, her work shows that it is possible for women to find meaning within a masculine literary practice by breaking down the barrier to what is traditionally considered a male domain. In my opinion, a surrealist sensuality infuses her corpus from beginning to end and serves as a "conceptual thread" that allows the reader a fresh approach in understanding, evaluating, and appreciating "Durasie.". |
