THE CHALLENGING OF SPEECH CONVENTIONS IN SARRAUTE,NATHALIE AND IN WITTIG,MONIQUE

Each in her own way, Nathalie Sarraute and Monique Wittig challenge la nguage in and by language. Their aim, it would seem, is to cast suspic ion on the consensus with respect to the actual role played by words. This enables them to highlight the ''scandals'' hidden under the commo n usage of words and discourse. For Sarraute, it means making heard wh at people do not want to hear, while for Wittig it means to subvert th e oppressive branding of gender through work on the personal pronouns in her writing. Language, for Sarraute as for Wittig, occupies therefo re the following three positions: object of the challenge as the seat of a conformism which justifies violence and legitimates aggression by concealing it; instrument of the challenge through the work of writin g; and site where something new is ins tailed which, for Wittig even m ore than for Sarraute, deserves to be called utopia. Here I encounter the thesis of Christine Delphy, who views theory and utopia as the two facets of a single quest.