The darker the night, the brighter the day: “the beauty of the world’s nights” by Marguerite Duras Cover Image

Plus sombre la nuit, plus claire la journée : « la beauté des nuits du monde » 1 de Marguerite Duras
The darker the night, the brighter the day: “the beauty of the world’s nights” by Marguerite Duras

Author(s): Sabrina LUSURIELLO
Subject(s): Aesthetics, French Literature, Theory of Literature, Sociology of Literature
Published by: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego
Keywords: Marguerite Duras; Insomnia; night; dark;

Summary/Abstract: Night-time, the favorite time of awakening for Marguerite Duras, has an ambivalent status. In a colorful game, the sleepless night changes from white to black, from bright to dark. Rather than a standstill or loss of time, the night without sleep offers a spectacular acceleration and intensification. Since the night acts as a catalyst, insomnia confronts the characters to their inescapable fate. Staying awake becomes an act of resistance, for both, characters and author. Therefore, insomnia emphasizes emptiness and inaction, and transforms loss into creation and fulfillment. Which means that insomnia is more than a physical phenomenon: it acquires a metaphysical dimension in Marguerite Duras’s work.

  • Issue Year: 2021
  • Issue No: 27
  • Page Range: 34-56
  • Page Count: 23
  • Language: French
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