Entre les mots, le silence: écrire pour soi, écrire pour les siens dans La femme aux pieds nus de Scholastique Mukasonga

Abstract

This study analyzes La Femme aux pieds nus (2008) by Scholastique Mukasonga (The Barefoot Woman, 2018) through the lens of deconstruction (Jacques Derrida, 1967), with particular attention to self writing and testimonial and childhood narratives. It explores how Mukasonga uses memory as a narrative tool to make heard the silenced voices of the Rwandan genocide and to question her own Tutsi identity. The study introduces the work of Viviane Azarian (2011), Annick Belrose (2022), Françoise Simonet-Tenant et al. (2017), Jacques Vassevière et al. (2023), Denise Escarpit et al. (1993), Catherine Coquio (2004) et Philippe Lejeune (1996) who address self-writing, childhood narratives and testimonial narratives. Gérard Genette (1972) is mobilized with regard to narratology. The work of Paul Ricœur (2000) is particularly enlightening for exploring concepts of memory, identity, and history. Concerning the critique of colonialism, Mahmood Mamdani (2001) and Jean Marc-Moura (2001) provide reflections on the history of Rwanda and the genocide, as well as the characteristics of postcolonial Francophone literatures.The article is divided into two sections: the first introduces the author and her work; the second examines narrative hybridity, focalization, and issues of identity. The conclusion emphasizes how Mukasonga deconstructs official History to restore the forgotten voices before and after the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, through a form of writing that blends autobiography and fiction, childhood narrative and testimony. This conclusion also opens the path for a potential comparative study between the Brazilian writer Conceição Evaristo and Scholastique Mukasonga. Keywords: Self-writing. Childhood narrative. Testemonial narrative. Francophone literature. Rwanda.