The (im)possible writing of the survivor

levinasian faces in Scholastique Mukasonga’s literary works

Abstract

Could Levinas' thought lead us to an ethical reading of literary texts? How can concepts such as Face, Testimony, Substitution, guide us in approaching authorial writing of another that reports, narrates? In this article, we approach the female faces of Scholastique Mukasonga to try, with the Levinasian perspective, an exercise of ethical reading about some his texts: Cockroaches (2006); The Barefoot Woman (2008) and Our Lady of the Nile (2012). The three works can be understood with a testimonial cycle by the author, addressing issues related to Rwanda and the 1994 Tutsi genocide. We also approach some specificities: about the female, their faces manifested in writing (the sayings) and in the voices revealed by her (the say), engaging in a dialogue between the words of Scholastique, Levinas and commentators of him; about the crossing of death and mourning in works such as those of Mukasonga, which narrate violent situations, sometimes unnameable, bordering on suffering and horror; and finally, on dealing with all of this, which is largely provided by the (im)possible writing, as urgent as necessary in the present times.