Fractures of the Self and a Poetics of Metamorphosis

Toward an Autofiction of Survival in Helen Keller and Bertrand Besse Saige

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.60056/CCL.2026.12.14-26

Keywords:

autofiction, survival, narrative identity, disability, metaphor, recognition

Abstract

This article compares The Story of My Life by Helen Keller and Le Guerrier immobile by Bertrand Besse Saige as two forms of writing survival. Beyond mere testimony, these narratives challenge classical autobiography by showing that the unity of the self becomes a necessary fiction after a major biographical rupture. Through language, metaphor, and the mediation of others, they make the self inhabitable again and recast autofiction as an anthropological and ethical necessity.

Author Biography

  • Karine Gros, Paris-Est Créteil University

    Karine GROS, Paris-Est Créteil University (IMRB Inserm, U955), France, is an Associate Professor in Literature and Rehabilitation and Re-adaptation Sciences. Her work focuses on the construction of the self in authors and readers through fiction, notably through the concepts of “fractalization of the subject” and “identifiction.” She later broadened her research from the literary field to the social sphere, examining professional trajectories, disability situations, and biographical disruptions. She currently heads the Research and Training Chair “Disability, Employment and Occupational Health,” where she develops narrative approaches to support resilience, rehabilitation, and job retention. Selected publications: Gros, K., Binisti, P., & al., Autism: Understanding Better in Order to Provide Better Support, Paris, ESF, 2021; Gros, K., The Work of Christian Doumet: A Fiction of Experience, Rennes, PUR, 2013; Gros, K., The Work of Gérard Macé: An Oltracuidansa Poetica, Montréal, Éditions Nota bene, 2009.

    ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0009-0001-1554-3417 

References

Besse Saige, B. (2014). Le Guerrier immobile ou la métamorphose de l’homme blessé. Toulouse : Érès. (Ouvrage original publié en 1993).

Doubrovsky, S. (1977). Fils. Paris : Éditions Galilée.

Goffman, E. (1975). Stigmate : Les usages sociaux des handicaps (A. Kihm, Trad.). Paris : Les Éditions de Minuit. (Ouvrage original publié en 1963).

Gros, K. (2013). Christian Doumet : la fiction du vécu. Rennes : Presses universitaires de Rennes.

Honneth, A. (2000). La Lutte pour la reconnaissance (P. Rusch, Trad.). Paris : Éditions du Cerf. (Ouvrage original publié en 1992).

Keller, H. (1903). The Story of My Life. New York: Doubleday, Page & Company.

Lejeune, Ph. (1975). Le Pacte autobiographique. Paris : Seuil.

Nussbaum, M. C. (2011). Creating Capabilities: The Human Development Approach. Cambridge: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.

Ricœur, P. (1990). Soi-même comme un autre. Paris : Éditions du Seuil.

Sen, A. (1999). Development as Freedom. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.

Tronto, J. C. (2009). Un Monde vulnérable : Pour une politique du care (H. Maury, Trad.). Paris : La Découverte. (Ouvrage original publié en 1993).

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Published

2026-06-24

Issue

Vol. 12 (2026)

Section

I. Autofiction: From Theory to Practice

License

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How to Cite

Fractures of the Self and a Poetics of Metamorphosis: Toward an Autofiction of Survival in Helen Keller and Bertrand Besse Saige. (2026). Colloquia Comparativa Litterarum, 12, 14-26. https://doi.org/10.60056/CCL.2026.12.14-26