Annie Ernaux

This chapter examines the place of the diary in the context of considerable growth in all forms of life-writing since the 1970s, through a reading of diaries published by Annie Ernaux. The diary has shared in the broader success of life-writing, but also remained marginal. This marginality is apparent within Ernaux’s overall writing project, broadly associated with the aims of autobiography, and even inimical to the diary. Her first diary publication, Journal du dehors, is positioned as an alternative to the journal intime by its focus on strangers and the outside world, but still points cautiously towards a diaristic authorial posture. Ernaux’s later publications of actual journaux intimes (including “Je ne suis pas sortie de ma nuit”) establish a complex relationship with Ernaux’s autobiographical works, acting as a supplement. L’Atelier noir, Ernaux’s writing diary (journal d’écriture), again acts as a supplement to her volume of complete works Écrire la vie.