ABSTRACT
Apter's approach is inspired by a comment of Roland Barthes to the effect that Gide's work had been unduly neglected. The implication is not that Gide had been overlooked by critics in general, but that a certain kind of criticism had not engaged with his writing. The 'postmodernist Gide' whom Apter aims to present is also coloured by the concerns of feminist criticism. In a patriarchal world, language is subject to masculine sensibilities and tends to suppress the female voice. In Michel's description of the public's reaction to his lectures, Gide may be seen not only to be alluding to the unstated subtext of homoeroticism, but also to be committing a slip of the text in relation to his own narrative control over the reader. A comparable example of textual lapsus occurs in the treatment of a hallowed Gidean theme: the relationship between truth and sincerity.
