A Psychological Reading of Francoise Sagan’s Bonjour Tristesse

پوختە

Several attempts have been made to discuss the meaning of Francoise Sagan’s Bonjour Tristesse (1954). Those studies focus in the main on the ethical indifference and moral irresponsibility characterizing the life of an upper-class French family of the nineteen-fifties. The sense of disillusionment that can be felt present in some of the characters is a result of the general frustration experienced in the postwar era. Aside from these interpretations, this paper on Sagan’s novella attempts a psychoanalytic assessment of it. Since psychoanalysis has to do with the human psyche and the related mental processes, this study is basically concerned with the inner life of the main character, Cecile, in the light of her relationships with both her father, Raymond, and her would-be step-mother, Anne. Moreover, it tries to explore how effective are (ab)normal relationships on the formation of Cecile’s personality from a psychological and psychoanalytic points of view. Therefore, the discussion is focused on exploring whether such a reading can give more insights into the main characters of the novel, and thus can work out or yield new interpretations which, as they are simply beyond the surface level, would be otherwise hidden or unnoticeable. In its sections, the paper gives firstly a brief account of psychoanalysis in its relation to literature and literary criticism. Then, the discussion shifts to shed light on Sagan’s novel in terms of analyzing the heroine from a psychoanalytic perspective. 

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