Citation

Rosenberg R. Journal of Romance Studies 2022; 22(4): 483-501.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2022)

DOI

10.3828/jrs.2022.27

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

This article analyses Chloé Delaume's short text Éden matin midi et soir [Eden Morning Noon and Evening] (2009). The narrator, Adèle, is a young woman who finds herself in a hospital bed having survived several suicide attempts. In her monologue, she describes her psychological pain using distinctly bodily metaphors and references to physiological ailments. She is speaking out against her doctors, nurses, the institution of psychiatry, her family, and her society, who try to blame her for attempting suicide and manipulate her to keep living and fighting. A part of Adèle's suffering relates to her resistance against these narratives. This article aims to expose the different facets of psychological pain expressed by Adèle while also showing the political imperative of the text to force its audience and readers to acknowledge psychological pain while also rendering them powerless witnesses to Adèle's choice to commit suicide. © 2022 Liverpool University Press. All rights reserved.

Language: en

Keywords

suicide; psychological pain; autofiction; illness; monologue