Dans quelle mesure peut-on dire que Enfance n’est pas une autobiographie traditionnelle ? Nathalie Sarraute’s 1983 novel Enfance has been subject to much speculation regarding its generic status. The argument surrounding its genre as autobiography or fiction is debatable and has been ongoing for sometime. The only way to address this point in question is to first define an autobiography, to analyse the factors that constitute an autobiography. Personally, I would recognise an autobiographical piece of work as being an entirely factual recount of events, true to their chronological order, blatantly retroactive and most importantly the author must correspond with the principal character. An autobiography often comes across as a quest for ratification of the author’s own identity, an effort to deduce the reason for their own existence. My own interpretation of what forms an autobiography corresponds almost exactly with Philippe Lejeune’s widely accepted definition from his 1974 work Le Pacte Autobiographique. In this he states that an autobiography must assume the form of a « Recit rétrospectif en prose qu’une personne réelle fait de sa propre existence; lorsqu’elle met l’accent sur l’histoire de sa vie individuelle, sur l’histoire de sa personnalité ». By extracting each determining factor posed in this definition I will examine Nathalie Sarraute’s Enfance with the following things in mind; Is it or is it not merely a recount in prose? Does it adhere to the condition of being strictly retrospective? Do the experiences recounted refer to Sarraute’s own individual life? Does the story encapsulate the history of the author’s personality? Is it clear that the author, the narrator and the main character are the same person and finally, does the story relate to and resolve the meaning of the author’s existence?

Firstly, I argue that it cannot be justified to refer to this piece of work as a mere “récit”. Sarraute’s novel is not just an account nor is it a mere