A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal
The Paris Métro and urban experience in Annie Ernaux’s Journal du dehors and Céline Curiol’s Voix sans issue
Authors: Mirka Ahonen
Publisher: Riksfoereningen foer Laerarna i Moderna Spraak
Publishing place: Uppsala
Publication year: 2015
Journal: Moderna Sprak
Volume: 109
Issue: 2
First page : 1
Last page: 15
Number of pages: 15
ISSN: 2000-3560
eISSN: 2000-3560
Web address : http://ojs.ub.gu.se/ojs/index.php/modernasprak/article/view/3098
According to Marc Auge, contemporary urban life generates non-places, meaningless spaces of transit and anonymity. I discuss the form taken by the idea of the non-place in contemporary representations of the Paris Metro, with a focus on urban experiences in Annie Ernaux's Journal du dehors and Celine Curiol's Voix sans issue. I argue that there are no fixed non-places; the experience of place is always subjective. The Metro can be seen momentarily as a non-place when it reflects the character's state of mind, but it can also be a meaningful place, connected to the character's identity and history.