From Irrational to "Irr(el)ational". Sociopoetic Perspectives of the Feminine and Posthuman in Novels by Three Contemporary Women Writers (Castillon, Martinez, NDiaye)

This article examines representations and issues of the "irrational" in recent novels by contemporary women writers in French (Claire Castillon, Carole Martinez and Marie NDiaye). It examines how the irrational imaginary specific to these works, which is built up through the sensitivity of female characters, raises issues that concern not only the affective construction of the protagonists but also the social identification, the relations of human-beings and the hierarchy of powers. Specific implications of the irrational regarding gendered hierarchy and affecting women in particular are discussed. The analysis shows how the irrational is constructed as the transformation of a traumatic social experience of the protagonists.