'Porteuse de la vie des autres': Ernaux's Journal du dehors as Anti-diary

This essay discusses one of Annie Ernaux's lesser-studied works, Journal du dehors. It focusses on her adaptation of the journal intime in the context of the modern trend in autobiographical writing as well as in relation to Ernaux's own positioning within popular culture. Ernaux, who has denied practising confessional writing, sees her own self mirrored in the people she meets in her everyday life. Thus, she shows that self-knowledge can be obtained by merely looking and observing people around her. The essay examines the implications of this different way of reconciling the personal and the political.