Orion's language and style: genetic analysis of some dictations of anguish from the book L'enfant bleu by Henry Bauchau

Abstract

Throughout the novel L'enfant bleu, by Henry Bauchau, published in 2004, we follow the healing process through which Orion, a psychotic teenager helped by the psychoanalyst and teacher Véronique, learns to deal with his symptoms and discovers himself as an artist through a alternative treatment based on the use of art and psychoanalysis. Years later, it is revealed to the public that the character Orion is inspired by the artist Lionel, a Bauchau patient in the 1970s and 1980s. The genetic study of Orion's Dictations, which sometimes refer to clinical texts by Lionel, reveals the rich process of rewriting creative endeavor undertaken by the writer. We are interested in understanding this process of creative rewriting. Therefore, in this article, we analyzed, from a genetic and stylistic point of view, the language of the character Orion from the novel L'Enfant Bleu, by Henry Bauchau. The sections analyzed, in their different versions, will be the following: Our Project (1); Dictation of Anguish nº 2 (2); Dictation of Anguish nº 8 (3) and Dictation of Anguish nº 9 (4). For the first three texts by Orion, we were able to find corresponding texts by Lionel. For the last one, Dictation number 9, we realize that it is a totally original text. The choice of these Dictations is justified by the fact that they are key moments in the narrative. On the other hand, as there are related and unrelated texts with Lionel's dictations, the sample allows us to better understand the differences in style between Lionel and Orion. As will be seen in this article, there are important differences between the style of Lionel, Bauchau's patient, and that of Orion, Bauchau's character. It is noted, through genetic analysis, a process of creative transformations operated by the writer and that swells over the various versions, giving an all original, characteristic and very significant tone to the way of speaking of the character inspired by Lionel.