French Literature Reviews - 2026

C. Durvye, Les Énigmes du moi (Scientific Classes Preparatory Courses 2009)
Other Literary Studies

Catherine Durvye

The Enigmas of the Self

PUF, Coll. "Major", 30/07/2008

160 p.

15 €

Isbn (ean13) : 978-2-13-056717-2

[Literature and Philosophy Syllabus for Scientific Preparatory Classes 2008-2009]

Publisher's Overview:
Confronted with the theme of the Enigmas of the Self, you are invited this year to read one of the Church Fathers, Saint Augustine; one of the masters of romantic drama, Alfred de Musset; and one of the most original autobiographers of the 20th century, Michel Leiris. At first glance, everything seems to separate this Christian bishop of the late 4th century AD from this romantic poet and this writer who was simultaneously a surrealist, structuralist, and ethnologist.

Everything, that is, except their shared preoccupation with exploring the innermost and most disconcerting recesses of their own minds. Augustine, in Book X of the Confessions, draws up an archaeological portrait of the human mind that synthesizes ancient ideas by aligning them with the new Christian spiritualism; Musset, in Lorenzaccio, depicts the turmoil of Lorenzo, a character who serves as his alter ego insofar as he, too, falls victim to the "malady of the century" affecting all the grandsons of the Revolution who were also the sons of the Empire; finally, Manhood presents the revolt of the sons of the Great War and Positivism—a revolt of which surrealism was the most striking expression.

In this volume, alongside a brief history of the origins and evolution of the notion of the self and reflections on the diverse forms taken by the enigma, you will find an exposition and analysis of the puzzles confronting each of the three authors. The book also investigates the primary settings where these enigmas take shape and grow more complex within the situations the self encounters during its search.

Table of Contents

Foreword

Part One: Prolegomena to the Study of the Subject

1 -- The Self: "Man does not know himself entirely" (Augustine, Confessions, X, 5): Initial Remarks -- The History of the Self, from Erasure to Infiltration, or the Self at the Expense of the World -- The History of the Self, from Power to Disappearance, or the World at the Expense of the Self

2 -- The Enigma: "For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face" (Augustine, Confessions, X, 5): Obscurity -- Allegory -- Mirror

3 -- Three Works: Saint Augustine's Confessions, Through the Looking Glass... or the Rhetoric of the Self -- Musset's Lorenzaccio, You Can't Play with Masks -- Michel Leiris's Manhood, from Haunting Metaphor to Personal Myth

Conclusion of Part One

Part Two: The Enigmas of the Self, or the Infernal Triangle

1 -- The Enigmatic Messages of the Objective Self: The Occult -- 2 -- Enigmas Introduced by the Observing "I": Obfuscation -- 3 -- The Interferences of Others, from Offense to Defense -- Conclusion

Catherine DURVYE, agrégée de Lettres, teaches in scientific and literary preparatory classes at Lycée Lakanal, Sceaux.

The exploration of interiority and personal identity occupies a prominent place in European intellectual traditions, bridging classical Christian spirituality, romantic introspection, and twentieth-century autobiographical writing. Authors across centuries have consistently sought to articulate the elusive nature of human consciousness, often navigating the tensions between private reflection and external reality. Texts such as Saint Augustine's Confessions, Alfred de Musset's Lorenzaccio, and Michel Leiris's Manhood represent distinct historical moments in this ongoing inquiry into the self, reflecting the shifting philosophical and aesthetic concerns of their respective eras.

Catherine Durvye examines the theme of the Enigmas of the Self through Saint Augustine, Alfred de Musset, and Michel Leiris. The volume includes a historical overview of the notion of the self alongside discussions of these three authors, addressing the settings and situations where these enigmas take shape. Readers interested in the literary and philosophical syllabus for scientific preparatory classes may find this volume relevant.