Le mensonge et ses variations dans l’oeuvre de Philippe Vilain

Abstract

This study reveals the presence of lies at different levels in Philippe Vilain's work. Concealing the truth is a recurring narrative theme in his autofictions and novels. The deceptions can be slight or far more far-reaching, to the point of becoming the central theme of some books (such as La fille à la voiture rouge).

Lies are set in relation to love as Philippe Vilain sees it, but also to an important category in his work, that of romance. Far from opposing lie and fiction, Philippe Vilain brings them together to the point of seeing the importance of self-invention as a central characteristic of literature at the beginning of the 21st century.