Gothic and Quasi-Gothic Aesthetic and the Mise en Abîme in Two Examples of Gay Men’s Life Writing About AIDS

This comparison between Hervé Guibert’s autofiction and Mark Thompson’s memoir is focused on their use of the mise en abîme. Thompson’s unacknowledged use of the mise en abîme is symptomatic of the incoherence pervading his self-narrative. Thompson covers up moments of incoherence in his Gay Body—mo...

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Main Author: Tomasz BASIUK
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Laboratoire d’Etudes et de Recherches sur le Monde Anglophone (LERMA) 2014-12-01
Series:E-REA
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journals.openedition.org/erea/4162
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author Tomasz BASIUK
author_facet Tomasz BASIUK
author_sort Tomasz BASIUK
collection DOAJ
description This comparison between Hervé Guibert’s autofiction and Mark Thompson’s memoir is focused on their use of the mise en abîme. Thompson’s unacknowledged use of the mise en abîme is symptomatic of the incoherence pervading his self-narrative. Thompson covers up moments of incoherence in his Gay Body—moments which represent missed occasions for self-reflexivity—by dissertating on Jungian psychology, with the odd result that textual effects readable as mise en abîme morph into a gothic, and gothic-like, aesthetic. In his earlier À l’ami qui ne m’a pas sauvé la vie, Guibert deploys the mise en abîme to indicate that self-examination need not result in positing a substantive content of the self. Guibert’s intellectual willingness to accept this paradoxical outcome reflects his readiness to play a witness to himself and others, in life and in death. His interest in himself and others is a form of love, capable of countering the stigmatizing shame, which Thompson struggles to overcome with his Jungian insights.
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spelling doaj-art-9975484121ca4d7e9bae5591d71674612025-01-09T12:54:15ZengLaboratoire d’Etudes et de Recherches sur le Monde Anglophone (LERMA)E-REA1638-17182014-12-0112110.4000/erea.4162Gothic and Quasi-Gothic Aesthetic and the Mise en Abîme in Two Examples of Gay Men’s Life Writing About AIDSTomasz BASIUKThis comparison between Hervé Guibert’s autofiction and Mark Thompson’s memoir is focused on their use of the mise en abîme. Thompson’s unacknowledged use of the mise en abîme is symptomatic of the incoherence pervading his self-narrative. Thompson covers up moments of incoherence in his Gay Body—moments which represent missed occasions for self-reflexivity—by dissertating on Jungian psychology, with the odd result that textual effects readable as mise en abîme morph into a gothic, and gothic-like, aesthetic. In his earlier À l’ami qui ne m’a pas sauvé la vie, Guibert deploys the mise en abîme to indicate that self-examination need not result in positing a substantive content of the self. Guibert’s intellectual willingness to accept this paradoxical outcome reflects his readiness to play a witness to himself and others, in life and in death. His interest in himself and others is a form of love, capable of countering the stigmatizing shame, which Thompson struggles to overcome with his Jungian insights.https://journals.openedition.org/erea/4162witnessingshameHervé GuibertMark ThompsonSidamise en abîme
spellingShingle Tomasz BASIUK
Gothic and Quasi-Gothic Aesthetic and the Mise en Abîme in Two Examples of Gay Men’s Life Writing About AIDS
E-REA
witnessing
shame
Hervé Guibert
Mark Thompson
Sida
mise en abîme
title Gothic and Quasi-Gothic Aesthetic and the Mise en Abîme in Two Examples of Gay Men’s Life Writing About AIDS
title_full Gothic and Quasi-Gothic Aesthetic and the Mise en Abîme in Two Examples of Gay Men’s Life Writing About AIDS
title_fullStr Gothic and Quasi-Gothic Aesthetic and the Mise en Abîme in Two Examples of Gay Men’s Life Writing About AIDS
title_full_unstemmed Gothic and Quasi-Gothic Aesthetic and the Mise en Abîme in Two Examples of Gay Men’s Life Writing About AIDS
title_short Gothic and Quasi-Gothic Aesthetic and the Mise en Abîme in Two Examples of Gay Men’s Life Writing About AIDS
title_sort gothic and quasi gothic aesthetic and the mise en abime in two examples of gay men s life writing about aids
topic witnessing
shame
Hervé Guibert
Mark Thompson
Sida
mise en abîme
url https://journals.openedition.org/erea/4162
work_keys_str_mv AT tomaszbasiuk gothicandquasigothicaestheticandthemiseenabimeintwoexamplesofgaymenslifewritingaboutaids