From Effet de Réel to Effet de Mémoire – A Study of the Concepts
From Effet de Réel to Effet de Mémoire – A Study of the Concepts

Summary/Abstract: The basic premise of this article is the conceptual confrontation of two notions – effet de réel and effet de mémoire. The first notion is that found in Roland Barthes’ work and it refers to the creation of a “reality effect” within the realist discourse. By analysing the details present in the realist literature, Barthes describes how one achieves a kind of referential illusion (illusion référentielle) by staging these details. The second notion (effet de mémoire) is a derivative of the first and is therefore explained based on Barthes’ term. The term effet de réel is a very influential term that has a concrete and well defined meaning. The effet de mémoire, in turn, promises an insightful rendering of the strategies of memory representation. Since it appears in some of the critical and theoretical works on memory discourses, we wish to examine the implications of creating such a concept. The aim of the article, therefore, is to establish the extent to which the latter conceptually draws on the former and what kind of consequences this confrontation yields. The article will thus touch upon the relation of novels depicting memory and reality, and the way in which the illusion of memory is achieved in a work of literature.

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