The Essayistic in Diary of the Fall by Michel Laub

a Filiation Narrative

Abstract

In the novel Diary of the Fall by Michel Laub, the narrator focuses on his own biography, that of a childhood friend, and those of two ancestors—his father and grandfather—in order to establish an ethical stance in the face of the “nonviability of human experience at all times and in all places.” To this end, he appropriates and reflects upon the family archive, notably the writings of his ancestors, asserting the importance of affection and haptic interaction in familial bonds. As a result of this process—which moves from autobiography to a narrative of filiation—the novel assumes the form of an essay. The present study analyzes these aspects of its hybridity, with particular emphasis on its essayistic character. It discusses how the work enacts an enunciative entanglement between narrator and author, thereby intensifying its capacity to intervene in reality. This analysis demonstrates, for instance, how the ethical stance adopted by the narrator oscillates between distance and proximity in relation to the actions taken by his ancestors.