La Rewriting in Jean-Luc Lagarce

Abstract

Jean-Luc Lagarce is one of the most important French playwrights of the last decades. Although throughout his career he was best known for his work as a director, after his death, his work has been revalued. His plays are extensively staged in France. In this text I will analyze a central aspect of his work: rewriting. I will address various examples of this procedure, as well as the different ways in which it appears, since it implies more than a correction or a new version of a text: it can modify the meaning of the text, and of the vision of the world that it projects. Furthermore, rewriting is related to the desire —and the impossibility— to correct and re-experience life, both that of the characters and that of the author himself. I will explore the implications of a constant rewriting, the risks, but also the possibilities that it brings with it. In order to do this I will also compare Lagarce’s texts to the novel Correction by Thomas Bernhard. Finally, I will analyze the link between rewriting and Lagarce’s literary project.