Call for papers: Olivia Rosenthal. The tension between adhesion and distance

Ever since her first book, Dans le temps, published in January 1999, the work of Olivia Rosenthal has grown increasingly complex. She has experimented with various genres and forms: fiction writing, autobiographic texts, performances where she partners with movie-makers, artists or composers, plays, essays, and other narratives that question the boundaries which we traditionally assign to literature (Murzilli, 2020). As an academic, Rosenthal  is also the co-founder of a Master's in creative writing, alongside Lionel Ruffel and Vincent Message, at the University Paris VIII (Vincennes – Saint-Denis). Many critically acclaimed young writers have emerged from this Master's program:  Elitza Georguieva, Aliona Gloukhova, Anne Pauly, Samy Langeraert, to name but a few.

Beyond this remarkable variety of genres, Rosenthal's works also share the particularity of integrating documentary resources in fiction and/or autobiographical writing. Starting from We're not here to disappear ([2007] 2015), interviews conducted and edited by the author have become some of the main material of her books. The voices they convey carry multiple viewpoints and questions about “common issues” (Huppe, 2017), particularly within the contrasts and disjunctions they create with the frame-text (Gris 2016; Demanze 2020). This fairly recent writing process increases the visibility of what has always been one of the most distinctive features of Rosenthal's writing: a tension between distance and adhesion (whether contradictory or complementary: that question is at the base of these reflections). For example, the disconnect between the main narrative voice and the outside testimonies of workers from the animal world in the autobiographical novel To leave with the Reindeer (2010) creates distance between the reader and the text; whereas Mécanismes de survie en milieu hostile (2014) and Éloge des bâtards (2019) both call for the reader to become immersed in the fiction.

Although Rosenthal has captured academics' and critics' attention, only one colloquium has thus far been devoted to her work (with the proceedings now published as a book: Demanze et Gris 2020). This issue aims at describing and measuring the evolution and variations of this work since then, focusing on the characteristic tension in Rosenthal's work between capturing the reader's attention and empathy and pushing them away. Proposals in the following fields are particularly welcome:

• “Out-of-the-book” literature (“littérature exposée”, Rosenthal and Ruffel, 2010), and creative practices that distance themselves from the traditional places and aesthetics of literature: performances, shows, cinematographic adaptations, residencies, artistic collaborations, experimental devices (Murzilli, 2012), etc
• (Institutional) relations between research and creative writing (creative research)
• Adhesion/distance: how this tension persists within the works (Rosenthal's humor, for example; Chaudier 2020), or how it affects the interpretation of the texts (Mouton-Rovira 2018)
• Rosenthal's work amongst contemporary or past literature, in an effort to draw a map of the connections between a monographic approach and a broader perspective on its context and surroundings (aesthetic proximity, Jollin-Bertocchi 2012; thematic connections, Trudel, 2017).

Recommendations for authors:

Proposals, including the title of the contribution and a 300-word summary, must be sent to morgane.kieffer@univ-st-etienne.fr,  david.vrydaghs@unamur.be and revuerelief@gmail.com  by  October 15 2021 (contributors will be notified of the committee’s decision by October 31).

Final contributions must be submitted by March 31 2022. Articles can be written in French or English and must be between 6000 and 8000 words.

Review protocol:

Submitted articles will undergo a double-blind review. The decision to publish an article will be made following the committee’s collective deliberation.

Bibliographical references

Chaudier (Stéphane), 2020. « Le pathos intelligent : rire avec Olivia Rosenthal », dans Olivia Rosenthal, le dispositif, le monde et l’intime, sous la dir. de L. Demanze et F. Gris, Caen, Lettres Modernes Minard, p. 81-96.

Demanze (Laurent), 2020. « Olivia Rosenthal “à la lisière de la médecine” », dans Olivia Rosenthal, le dispositif, le monde et l’intime, sous la dir. de L. Demanze et F. Gris, Caen, Lettres Modernes Minard, p. 51-61.

Demanze (Laurent) et Gris (Fabien), 2020 (dir.). Olivia Rosenthal, le dispositif, le monde et l’intime, Caen, Lettres Modernes Minard.

Gris (Fabien), 2016. « La maladie d’Alzheimer et l’oubli de la famille : On n’est pas là pour disparaître d’Olivia Rosenthal », dans Le Roman contemporain de la famille, sous la dir. de S. Coyault, Chr. Jérusalem et G. Turin, Caen, Lettres Modernes Minard, p. 79-94.

Huppe (Justine), 2017. « Du réel qui toujours déborde : réalité, fiction et usages dans l’œuvre d’Olivia Rosenthal ». Séminaire du Laboratoire Passage XX-XXI, 26 septembre.

Jollin-Bertocchi (Sophie), 2012. « L’intériorisation des énoncés génériques (Laurent Mauvignier, Olivia Rosenthal, Éric Laurrent) », Revue critique de fixxion française contemporaine, n° 11. En ligne : http://revue-critique-de-fixxion-francaise-contemporaine.org/rcffc/article/view/fx13.05/1097

Mouton-Rovira (Estelle), 2018. « Imaginer la réception : figures de lecteurs et déplacements herméneutiques chez Éric Chevillard et Olivia Rosenthal », Littérature, n° 190, p. 59-73.

Murzilli (Nancy), 2012. «L’expérimentation du dispositif chez Olivia Rosenthal: Les Larmes hors le livre » , Cahiers de Narratologie, n ° 23. En ligne : https://doi.org/10.4000/narratologie.6633

– 2020. « Sortir du livre : enjeux d’une rencontre de la littérature avec d’autres pratiques artistiques et formes de vie », dans Olivia Rosenthal, le dispositif, le monde et l’intime, sous la dir. de L. Demanze et F. Gris, Caen, Lettres Modernes Minard, p. 175-188.

Rosenthal (Olivia) et Ruffel (Lionel), 2010 (dir.). « La Littérature exposée : les écritures contemporaines hors du livre », Littérature, n° 140.

Trudel (Éric), 2017. « Passions du réel (sur Philippe Vasset, Olivia Rosenthal et Thomas Clerc) », Australian Journal of French Studies, vol. 54, n° 2-3, p. 113-128.