‘Writing without shame’: the issue of female sexuality in the Anglo-American translations of Passion simple, L’Événement and L’Occupation by Annie Ernaux

Abstract

This article focuses on the rendering of the discourse on sexuality in Passion simple and L’Occupation and that on procreation in Happening in the Anglo-American translations of these three texts. Annie Ernaux conceives writing as a political activity, one of whose aim is to denounce male domination by means of the textual inscription of feminine sexuality and of female corporality. Indeed the author-narrator wishes to write “without shame” in order to break a code of silence imposed by society. The effort to objectify the discourse on the body which characterizes Ernaux’s writing is based on a style devoid of metaphors and marked by numerous repetitions. These textual stakes are simplified in the translation, while the prejudices against women are slightly intensified. Reasons for these modifications are analysed.