Lecture 2: Les Petits Enfants du
siècle: The Story of a Reduction
In lecture 1, I discussed the three issues of: i) the postwar French
government's politique nataliste, ii) the growth of consumer
society and iii) urbanization. The common feature of these three
developments, according to Rochefort at least, was that that all had
disasterous consequences for individuals and their social relationships.
It is primarily through the character of Josyane however, that we see the
deadening, stultifying consequences of life in postwar France: the
reaffirmation of traditional gender roles, urbanization and consumerism.
In interviews and in her autobiography, Ma Vie revue et corrigée par
l'auteur, Rochefort comes back again and again to the harm inflicted
on her main character, Josyane Rouvier. Let's look at just a few of these
comments:
Let me begin by expressing compassion for Josyane, the little girl who had
all the potentialities and hope of the mind, of the soul, of the brain.
But she is crushed by society, or, I should say more specifically, by a
certain way of life created by the form of the house, the way of feeding
people, the way of living inside the house, the economic links with the
world. (Rochefort: 1979a p.119)
Les Petits Enfants du siècle is, of course, a book about growing
up, about the process of maturing and becomng an adult. In Les Petits
Enfants du siècle this process is not so much about growth as about
reduction, a narrowing of one's horizons, a scaling down of one's
ambition. Josyane's passage into adulthood is not a move into a world of
enlarged possibilities, it is a move into a world whose limits and are
tightly circumscribed. At the end of her story she is well on the way to
becoming the person she once claimed to despise: une bonne femme.
The novel, of course, ends with Josyane planning her purchases for the
wedding ceremony and for the arrival of her first baby. Josyane is caught
in the cycle of materialism, trapped, en cloque, en famille.
Les Petits Enfants du siècle does not end with an enabling escape
but with its main character unable to get past a false ideology which
imprisons her.
Rochefort's description of the young Josyane as a `little girl who ha[s]
all the potentialities and hope of the mind, of the soul, of the brain'
(Rochefort: 1979a p.119) is a good one. The Josyane we encounter at the
beginning of the novel has a lively, inquiring mind, a love of language
and an interest in the world. On pages 10-12, for example, we see her sat
at the kitchen table enjoying doing her homework. We also witness her
enjoyment of language on pages 23-25. Despite her natural intelligence
however, Josyane does badly at school because she does cannot fit in to
its narrow, conformist outlook. Her problem is that she thinks rather than
obeys or repeats. This is clearly in evidence when she attends Sunday
school (15-19). She shows a total incapacity to learning by heart. She
wants to argue and debate - much to the annoyance of her teacher.
The education Josyane receives is not really about self-realization in any
way. The school is yet another place in which Josyane is named, assigned
a role and categorized like an object. Chantal, Josyane's younger and
intellectually challenged sister is consigned to the dustbin and the
careers advisor is not interested in what Josyane wants, only her
suitability as a potential worker (94- 6). Josyane remains committed to
the ideal of learning (113) but rejects what is offered by a school system
which seeks only to turn out productive future workers.
The school system then, is an agent in Josyane's `reduction'. The French
educational system and the apparently systematic way in which
individuality and imagination is discouraged is a recurrent theme in
Rochefort - in particular Encore heureux qu'on va vers l'été
(1975). Rochefort sees the school system as playing an important part in
`processing' childen and turning them into good citizens, that is to say,
into good workers and good consumers. This it what it attempts to do to
Josyane. Rather than offering Josyane possibilities, the school system
attempts to close them down and to pigeon-hole her. Small wonder then,
that Josyane refuses to work with the system (25).
Another way in which Les Petits Enfants du siècle may be read as
`the story of a reduction' is on the level of Josyane's emotional
responses to the world.Throughout most of the novel Josyane is
characterized by her minimal responsiveness. She doesn't really seem to
react all that much. Take, for example, the scene in which her brother
dies during childbirth:
Sexuality has been a recurrent theme in Rochefort's writing for over thirty
years now, from Le Repos du guerrier (1958) to La Porte du
fond (1988). In both her realist and utopian/dystopian fiction the
contradictions of sexuality are worked and reworked. Sexuality is at once
a source of liberation, a vital form of human communication, a way of
realizing the body's potential for pleasure as well as a potential source
of unhappiness, exploitation and division. Sex and sexuality have an
extremely positive value for Rochefort herself but are seen to be
corrupted by society. Sexual repression is viewed by Rochefort as a potent
weapon of social control. Individuals are somehow kept in place through
the policing of their sexual identity. Women are the key target here:
their sexuality being channelled into reproduction and helping the state's
economic needs. The subversive and pleasurable potential of sexuality is
disarmed and degraded by a society which seeks to control desire. Let's
take a quick look at a statment in an interview with Cécile Arsène for
clarification of this point:
Josyane's first sexual experience with Guido in the woods is a scene that
many contemporary readers feel uncomfortable about. The scene takes place
when Josyane is not yet eleven years old (39) with a man at least a
generation older than her (39). Part of the justifiable discomfort many of
us feel is linked to a greater awareness of and sensitivity to child
sexual abuse. I don't intend to evade this problem but to try and make
sense of it by placing it within the context of Rochefort's treatment of
sexuality in Les Petits Enfants du siècle as well as within her
other published works.
Rochefort, particularly in a late work like La Porte du fond takes
the issue of sexual abuse very seriously and the narrator of that book, a
young woman recalling a childhood destroyed by sexual abuse, makes the
claim that: `... le malheur n'est pas le sexe ... le malheur c'est le
Patron' (Rochefort: 1988 p.13). The problem is not sex but power. Although
the origin is claimed to be a personal sexual fantasy (see quote 17) it
needs to be understood in the context of sexual relationships within the
novel itself. Let us look at this scene in detail:
The passage is loaded with positive terms: `C'était doux', `je ne savais
pas qu'il existait des choses aussi bonnes', `J'aurais voulu que ce soit
éternel' etc.. It is also full of natural imagery: `j'entendais les
oiseaux', in particular, bird imagery conventionally emblematic of
freedom, escape and flight. There is no sense then tat Josyane is harmed
in any way by her first sexual encounter. The relationship between Josyane
and Guido is characterized by communication - he is genuinely interested
in her as a person - and by mutual respect. The awkward question that
hovers in the back of my mind though is what's in it for Guido? Why is
Guido drawn towards Josyane? What are his motivations?
I think we need to view Guido as a kind of cipher whose function is
thematic, he doesn't really make sense as a coherent psychological
character. Guido represents or stands for the natural, the open, the
sensual - `la vraie vie' of a life in nature. It is interesting to note
that he is consistently associated with nature, the purity, freedom and
liberation of the natural world. In appearance he is healthier than the
other adults Josyane meets - `C'était un homme très beau, brun avec les
belles dents blanches quand il souriait, et des yeux clairs' (39) - and he
is described by Josyane as `né sur les collines' (40). However, Guido is
also a construction worker paid to build the large housing estates that
surround Paris. He also represents the threat to nature since he is
involved in the process of urbanization which is destroying, limiting and
replacing the natural world.
Josyane's first sexual encounter with Guido needs to be read as a moment
of awakening, of a realization of her sexuality and of that sexuality's
potential for pleasure. However, since Guido is also helping to construct
the large housing estates that will ultimately form Josyane's prison, he
is also a reminder of the dangers of that sexuality, the possibility that
that sexuality may well be something that may entrap her. Guido's function
then is double: he serves to underline the pleasures of Josyane's
sexuality but also the danger that that sexuality may face.
Now let's compare the scene with the description of Josyane's subsequent
sexual encounter with Joël:
Later, Josyane turns to older men to recapture something of the moment she
shared with Guido and her next most significant sexual encounter is with
René, a respectable père de famille (116). It is at this point that
Josyane begins to realize the power of her sexuality as an item to be
bartered, as an object of exchange. She realizes with great pleasure the
disruptive, transgressive,subversive force of that sexuality which
challenges the social order. She learns to use her sexuality as a way of
humiliating the adult world:
The story of Josyane's sexual initiation is also, to use Rochefort's own
terms again, `the story of a reduction'. As regards sexuality we see an
initial awakening to her sexual possibilities gradually closed down as she
becomes the object of other people's desire. We see her first of all
empowered by her sexuality and later entrapped by it. She starts her
sexual life standing up gazing at the sky and ends it lying down en
cloque. Her relationship with Philippe, although based on a respect
and a kindness that is entirely absent from her relationships with
allother men except Guido, represents the final degradation of sexual
energy. Let's just look at the passage following Josyane's announcement
that she is pregnant:
If you are ready for the concluding lecture on Christiane Rochefort click
on lecture 3.
If you would like some more bibliographical references click on Selected Further Reading.
La petite Josyane, je suis liée à elle, par la compassion si vous voulez.
Et je suis aussi derrière elle, en train d'essayer (?) les possibilités
qu'elle a d'être sauvée. Non, finalement. L'`amour' (faux, illusoire) aura
sa peau. Moi je constate avec tristesse la puissance de l'oppression par
l'urbanisme. (Rochefort: : 1978 p.277)
It is the claim that Les Petits Enfants du siècle as `the story of
a reduction' (Rochefort: 1979a p.119) that I want to consider in the most
detail however. What might Rochefort have meant by this? What evidence is
there in the text to either refute or substantiate it?
Quand le bébé mourut en naissant, je crois que je n'eus pas de
véritable chagrin. Cela nous fit seulement tout drôle de la voir revenir à
la maison sans rien cette fois-là. (12)
This is not always the case, however and there are points at which we see
Josyane moved to action or emotion. She is moved to tears by the
institutionalization of Catherine (88-90) for example. This scene is an
unusual one in its pathos. It is one of the few moving scenes in Les
Petits Enfants du siècle which tends to be characterized by emotional
restraint or indifference. Later in her life, whatever the tragedy or
injustice, Josyane feels no overt anger or moralism. Her responses to the
world come to be marked by a general blankness. Josyane goes from birth to
motherhood almost without feeling. She becomes indifferent to tragedy both
on a personal and on a political level, to both the death of Frédéric in
the Algerian war (136), to Liliane who dies during an illegal abortion:
Quand je lui dis que j'étais enceinte, et ça n'aurait pas dû être une
surprise c'était fatal que ça arrive avec nos méthodes on ne pouvait
jamais se quitter et même on remettait ça dans l'ardeur du moment il n'y a
rien de plus dangereux cette pauvre Liliane me l'avait bien dit, ça ne lui
avait d'ailleurs pas réussi toute sa connaissance elle était morte et
d'une sale façon la pauvre fille, ça m'avait foutu la trouille, mais quand
je le dis à Philippe,il me souleva de terre et me fit tourner en l'air
comme un fou. D'un côté j'aimais mieux ça. (157-8)
Perhaps one of the addition themes of the novel is the way in which it is
possible to go through life untouched.
Sex and Sexuality
Sex is an organ of communication. But when you take a look at what
actually happens, that's not at all what you see. The end result, what
with the frantic socialization of that particular mechanism, what with
oppression, alienation, exploitation, sublimation, recuperation, that's
not at all what it's about. And then all those social obligations: the
family and all that nonsense. Sexual energy is worn down, it's been
diverted almost one hundred percent. (Rochefort: 1979b pp.103-4)
Let's now take a closer look at Rochefort's representation of sexuality
and sexual relationships in the novel, concentrating in particular on four
main scenes:
i) her first sexual encounter with Guido (43-44)
ii) her later encounter with Joël and Didier (107)
iii) her relationship with René (115-122)
iv) her sexual relationship with Philippe, the man she will eventually
marry (147-159)
Il se tourna vers moi, et me regarda d'un air égaré. Il prit mes deux
mains et soudain tomba à genoux et m'attira contre lui, et il se mit à
parler en italien. Ce qu'il disait je ne le sais pas je ne sais pas
l'italien, mais je le sais je l'entendus, je n'ai jamais rien entendu de
si beau, je comprenais tout. Quand il m'embrassa le visage, il était
brûlant, ses mains étaient brûlantes sur moi et de temps en temps il
levait les yeux vers moi et me posait une question, si je voulais bien, il
me dit seulement en français: `je ne veux pas te faire de mal. Je te jure
je te jure, c'est que je t'aime', et il répéta en italien qu'il ne voulait
rien me faire de mal, je le croyais, je le laissais faire, je n'avais pas
envie de l'empêcher, pas du tout et de moins en moins, à mesure que ses
lèvres m'approchaient et quand je sentis leur chaleur alors pour un empire
je ne l'aurais pas arrêté. C'était doux, cela ne finissait pas, j'étais
adossée à l'arbre, Guido était à genoux devant moi, j'entendais les
oiseaux, je ne savais pas qu'il existait des choses aussi bonnes, et à la
fin il y eut une limite, je fus obligée de gémir, Guido me serra follement
et gémit aussi, mes jambes ne pouvaient plus me porter. Il me coucha sur
le sol, ou j'y tombai, je ne sais pas, il avait l'air heureux, il parla
encore, et il recommença, il disait qu'il ne s'arrêterait jamais, je
comprenais de mieux en mieux l'italien. Moi non plus je n'aurais pas
arrêté, quand il me laissait un peu je le retenais, finalement j'en avais
presque mal, je pouvais à peine le supporter, mais quel dommage! J'aurais
voulu que ce soit éternel. (43-4)
There are a number of important characteristics in this description of
Josyane's first sexual encounter that I'd like to isolate. Firstly, what
we might call the relation of dominance is unconventional: Guido is on his
knees before Josyane in a position of both submission/deference and
respect. Secondly, despite the ambiguity of the passage it is clear that
Josyane is brought to orgasm by Guido performing oral sex on her. Their
sexual encounter is thus non-penetrative and more about sensuality and
touch. Thirdly, since their sexual encounter is non- penetrative it is
thus non-reproductive. Josyane can enjoy sexual pleasure without fear of
pregnancy. Fourthly, the sexual experience is other-directed, aimed at
Josyane's sexual fulfillment.
Je savais ce qu'il voulait. Du moins le début. Dès qu'on fut couchés sous
les arbres dans un coin tranquille il releva mon pull-over. C'est ça qu'il
voulait depuis une semaine, et c'était en somme entendu. Il regarda mes
seins, les caressa et les embrassa, en me faisant un tas de compliments,
que ça le changeait de ceux de Liliane qui étaient trop gros. Quand il se
mit à ma jupe, j'eus un instant l'espoir qu'il allait faire comme Guido et
c'est pour ça que je le laissai m'enlever tout sans opposer la moindre
résistance. Mais aussitôt il se coucha sur moi. J'hésita quelques
secondes, je n'avais pas tellement d'opinion et le temps que j'en cherche
une il était pratiquement trop tard et puis zut. `Gueule pas me dit-il, on
pourrait t'entendre' C'était raisonable et je me tus. D'ailleurs ça ne
faisait pas si mal que ça. Par exemple c'était beaucoup plus vite fait que
je n'aurais cru, j'avais à peine eu le temps de penser à ce que je faisais
que c'était terminé, il était debout, il rattachait son blue-jeans. (107)
In this particular description, sexual activity is a much more perfunctory
affair. The conventional relation of dominance is present and coitus
(penetration) takes place without the necessary protection. Moreover,
Josyane does not give her consent and her own sexual fulfillment is
disregarded. It is a remarkably cold and unsatisfactory encounter. There
is also repetition as later that evening Didier takes his turn (108) and
the experience is remarkably similar.
Bref en tout cas depuis René quand je les [les bonnes femmes du quartier]
voyais je me régalais; d'une façon je les avais bel et bien faites cocues,
toutes, en allant en pêcher un dans leur génération et en lui faisant
apprécier la différence. (121)
After René, Josyane comes to realize that her sexuality,her body is the
sum of her human value. Josyane begins to realize that more and more how
her body can be used as a means of securing financial and material gains.
In particular, she exchanges sexual favours for the use of the older boys'
scooters so that she can ride around the new housing estates in search of
Guido (122). Here, the experience of sex is very different from that with
Guido. It is no longer a source of pleasure but of power. Sex has become
part of the vast cycle of exploitation, materialism and exchange that
dominates all other aspects of life in postwar France.
`Depuis le jour où je t'ai vue avec un bébé dans les bras j'en ai envie
criait-il. Tu peux pas savoir! J'ai envie de te faire un enfant depuis ce
jour-là!' Il me dit que chaque fois qu'il m'avait fait l'amour il y avait
pensé, il se répétait Je lui fais un enfant, je suis en train de lui faire
un enfant, et ça le rendait fou de joie, de bonheur, de plaisir. Ça le
faisait jouir de me faire un enfant. Eh bien, il était fait, il n'avait
pas joui pour rien. (158)
Although, of course, there is nothing wrong with wanting to have children,
it is the association of sexuality only with reproduction that is the
target of Rochefort's irony here. The last line that Philippe hadn't come
for nothing is a neat sideswipe at a society where sexual pleasure is
subordinate to reproduction.
References
The University of Sunderland
Last Update 28-Feb-96