ABSTRACT

Finally, in her more recent novels, Duras reshapes not only her work but her own image in the eyes of the public. With L'Amant (The Lover: Prix Goncourt 1984), she became a popular writer. Part of its success might be due to its advertisement as an "exotic, erotic autobiographical confession," which hides its deep ambivalence: by her narrative use of "I" and "she," Duras pretends to confess but is not committed to truthfulness and plays a seductive game of veiling and unveiling her life.