The author en abyme (Valéry and Gide)

Abstract

Having as a starting point the writings of Paul Valéry e de André Gide, this article revisits the notion of mise en abyme which was very successfully used half a century ago and which is now frequently used in a vague and abusive way. The phenomenon of the author en abyme has to do both with the author’s necessity to clarify the enigma to himself and understand the world and his place in it, and also with his desire to explore his possibility of agency and intervention in the world: the author en abyme dialogues with Icaro’s story, with the consequent relapses of the author as magician, prophet and demiurge, of the king who is naked. Keywords: Author. Mise en abyme. Narrator. André Gide. Paul Valéry.