L’art du « revenez-y ». Variations sur la mémoire chez les Goncourt
The art of the ‘revenez-y’. Variations on memory in the Goncourts’ novels

Summary/Abstract: This article proposes an exploration of the novels of the Goncourts from the perspective of the representations and writing of memory, a fundamental notion in their work and their lives, as evidenced both by the Journal and their passion for collecting. Paradoxically, the characters remember relatively little in their novels. However, although discreet, memory is deployed at strategic moments in the narrative. The aim here is to bring to light a veritable art of “revenez-y”, which unfolds in different variations as psychological, narrative and aesthetic explorations of memory. The article thus explores the sometimes pathological and sometimes reparative representations of memory through the nostalgia and melancholy of the characters, as well as the issue of interaction between memory, dream and oblivion in the Goncourts’ writing. Finally, the aim is to identify the corporalisation of memory at work in the Goncourts’ novels, notably through the intermediary of characters from the world of entertainment: actors and actresses, mimes and acrobats.

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