Annie Ernaux, and the thawing of the world

Annie Ernaux's books revolve around three dynamics: her social journey, her condition as a woman and her relationship with the town of Cergy-Pontoise. Far from thinking in isolation, we would like to suggest that these dynamics are part of the same literary and existential gesture. The article introduces the notion of "thaw" as a process of emancipation and liberation through writing, allowing social norms to be questioned and new forms of relationships to be created. Ernaux's work is then considered as a reflection on the possibility of a generalized thaw, offering an alternative to repressive logics and identity assignments.