Tabou or Not Tabou, Dire ou ne Pas Dire: Maupassant et l'Autocensure

摘要

In many of his Chroniques, Maupassant condemns the stupid optimism and hypocrisy of his time, which leads him to assert the author''s right and duty to portray society as it is – be it by depicting the basest of its elements. However, his fictional production points to a rather more complex picture, thus stressing the fundamental dichotomy between the effet de réel dogma and its practical applications. Where the content is more sombre, the two techniques of distancing and generalising both lessen the taboo and enable reflection (the narratee''s as well as the reader''s). In turn, this does not necessarily imply that the more humorous texts are devoid of self-censorship. On the contrary, it appears that the taboo is all the more unavowable that it is entertaining. Maupassant''s lighter short stories indeed display a great variety of stylistic devices, to the point that the reader''s correct interpretation becomes an issue. Would veiling what must not be written also be a way of veiling what must (not) be understood?