Henri Thomas: écriture de guerre et silence créateur ou les sources de son identité narrative

Abstract

This study, dealing with narrative identityduring the war in Henri Thomas’s epistolarydiscourse, implies the considerationof factors such as the awareness of his historicalself. Such awareness locates him inthe perspective of being a «story-man» thatcan be told in the discourse and becomeself-revealing, which situates us before aman liable to progress and for whom compromiseis his only aim. This will be thematerial used during the first stage of thewar (soldier Thomas), and it will later onbecome a spiritual compromise throughwhich he searches for his salvation and hiscountry’s, France. All this occurs thanks tothe creative silence through which life,identity, and literary universe appear inperfect communion.

Keywords

• narrative identity
• war writing
• commitment
• epistolary discourse
• creative silence
• solitude.