Writing about the other and writing about the self: The atypical diary of Annie Ernaux, 'Journal du Dehors'

Journal du dehors by Annie Ernaux is an atypical diary: instead of explorin g the self, the enunciating subject concentrates on "the other" as seen in large supermarkets, in the "no man's land" (Ernaux) of a Parisian suburb wh ich transforms individuals into anonymous crowd, and in commuter trains. He r gaze penetrates this mass and singles out those who usually go unnoticed: a cashier, an older woman lost in the mall, beggars, etc. By selecting and juxtaposing scenes of marginal people and their counterparts-those who, su pposedly, belong to the intellectual, political, or economic "elite"-the ob server's own subjective positioning emerges slowly: writing (about) the oth er is always also writing (about) the self.