"Sujet Némirovsky": questions and reflections of a biographer

In the space of two decades, Irene Nemirovsky's work has acquired the status of a twentieth-century classic. But it is the novelist's tragic fate and the spectacular conditions of her rediscovery, rather than her renown, that have aroused research interest. How can empathy for the author of Suite francaise be combined with the critical distance required of a researcher? What part should connivance play and what role can it play in the pacte biographique? This contribution examines the ambiguous nature of biographical work, the elusive object of which must nevertheless be shaped by the tools of scientific research.