Women writing in contemporary France

Misunderstandings in Desarthe’s novels 109
In Un secret sans importance, the relationships of two distinct
groups of people form the framework in which the understanding–
misunderstanding dichotomy is explored. On the one hand, there is a
group of linguisticians, Emile, Dan, Harriet, Gabriel and Frédéric, and, on
the other, there are two women who are far from academic: Violette, a
widow recently released from a psychiatric hospital, and Sonia, Dan’s
dying wife. Moreover, in contrast to Quelques minutes de bonheur absolu,
an omniscient narrator leaves the reader in no doubt as to whether the
truth, or at least the intended meaning, is being eluded or grasped.
The linguisticians believe that they may objectively interpret identity
through an analysis of signalling behaviour, and that they may equally
objectively translate their conclusions into language, an aspiration and confidence
in their ability to transcend their subjectivity which is highlighted
by the titles of their various projects. Gabriel, for example, is writing a
thesis entitled ‘Opérations énonciatives sous-jacentes aux mal-entendus’
(Enunciative operations underlying misunderstandings), Emile has
written an article entitled ‘Détermination et modalité dans les langues
indo-européenes’ (Determination and modality in the Indo-European languages),
and Harriet has written an epistemological dissertation, ‘De l’animisme
au vitalisme, les apports des conceptions aristotéliciennes aux
travaux de Claude Bernard: Contre une définition cartésienne de l’humain’
(From animism to vitalism, the contribution of Aristotelian conceptions to
the work of Claude Bernard: against a Cartesian definition of the human).
However, despite being officially recognised as experts in language, they
are often shown both to be unable to communicate their ideas clearly and
to misunderstand signals, a comment on the inadequacy of language (both
linguistic and paralinguistic) to convey intended meaning.
A notable example of such problems with language is seen in the
episode in which Emile and Gabriel, analysing their respective history in
relation to Irina, Gabriel’s mother, a dancer with whom Emile once had a
fleeting affair, come to the conclusion that they must be father and son, and
indeed the text implies that this is the case. It is only in the final few pages
that we are told that this is not so, but Emile and Gabriel are not enlightened,
confidently believing that they have accurately deciphered the past
and redefined their relationship with each other. As Gabriel comments,
unconsciously highlighting the error of his judgement and the precariousness
of interpretation generally: ‘C’était très facile. Tout est écrit. Il suffit de
savoir lire’ (It was very easy. Everything is written. You just have to know
how to read). 5