Nathalie Sarraute and the Feminist Reader: Identities in Process (review)

Book Reviews Sarah Barbour. Nathalie Sarraute and the Feminist Reader: Identities in Process. Lewisburg: Bucknell University Press; London & Toronto: Associated University Presses, 1993. Pp. ix + 295. $46.50. In Nathalie Sarraute and the Feminist Reader, Sarah Barbour rereads Nathalie Sarraute's first seven novels, as well as critical readings and ' 'misreadings" of these works, from a decidedly feminist perspective. Barbour's feminist hermeneutics, which heavily draws on Julia Kristeva's "three generations of feminism," initially appears to be awkwardly opposed to Sarraute's intentions, since Sarraute clearly stated that all good writers are androgynous and confessed that "the idea of 'women's writing' shocks me" (34-35, 61). Yet, when evaluated in conjunction with Kristeva's "third generation of feminism" (with emphasis on creating a space beyond gender), a critical approach such as Paul Ricceur's "hermeneutics of suspicion," and A. S. Newman's warning that "nothing can be taken at 'face value' in [Sarraute's] work" (21), Barbour's analysis materializes as a credible and provocative re-interpretation of Sarraute's thought. Barbour begins her study by noting that the nouveaux romanciers "sense of the 'telos' of the novel's evolution" was neither rigid nor messianic (15). She notes that Sarraute, who vehemently opposed the notion of an eternal literary chef d'oeuvre (16), disagreed with Jean-Paul Sartre's characterization of her work as "anti-roman," since "[il] vient de l'idée que Sartre se faisait de ce que doit être un roman" (16). Barbour's anti-teleological reading of Sarraute distinguishes her from other sarrautien critics such as Valerie Minogue, whom Barbour labels a "traditionalist thematic critic" attempting to neutralize gender issues in favor of more general questions arising from the French "moraliste" tradition (19, 54). New Criticism's revelation that "the 'intentions' of the author may (should) be read separately from the 'production' of a text" (35), combined with Barbour's personal suspicion of teleology (18), lays the groundwork for her feminist critique based on Kristeva's generations. With this in mind, Barbour begins her study "as a way to discuss sarrautien criticism as its evolution parallels the innovations in form found in her novels, and feminist literary criticism in the United States as it has developed over time" (15). Her intent is not to read Sarraute's work as "écriture féminine," but as a re-presentation of tropistic reality that allowed Sarraute to demonstrate "how her novels were the next step in the evolution of that genre" (14). Barbour's close reading of Sarraute's first seven novels is fascinating, particularly her evaluation of Sarraute's use of personal pronouns (Entre la vie et ¡amort) and her destruction of the self-other dichotomy ( Vous les entendez? and "disent les imbéciles"). Yet, Barbour 's work does contain several significant flaws. First, several prominent scholars have noted that many of Barbour's translations (from French to English) are awkward, while others appear to be simply wrong. Second, Barbour's work includes a lot about Barbour herself, from her discovery of Tropismes in 1979 to her past "misreadings" of Sarraute (60, 62). While Barbour's evolution as a feminist critic is fascinating, its inclusion casts doubt on the objectivity of her synchronic/diachronic reading, implying the primacy of subjective synchronic methodology over diachronic criticism. Finally, Barbour does make one inexcusable error in her book. She writes that her "encounter with Sarraute's novels ... is necessarily different from that made by Newman and Minogue for reasons of gender; our explicit contracts are not the same, and the breaking of that contract thus creates a different conflict" (275-76). Unfortunately, the "encounter" of Valerie Minogue, whom Barbour repeatedly refers to as "he," is not necessarily different from Barbour's for reasons of gender. Like Sarah Barbour, Valerie Minogue is a woman. Vol. XXXVI, No. 2 117 L'Esprit Créateur Although Nathalie Sarraute and the Feminist Critic does contain several conspicuous flaws, they should not be overrated. Barbour's work is quite impressive, and although the philosophical basis of her hermeneutics is debatable, her approach and conclusions are worth examining. For any scholar interested in iconoclastic approaches to Sarraute's work and/or feminist literary criticism, Barbour...