This article explores image, reading and writing in Tournier’s novel The Erl-King. The analysis will be divided into three levels: Firstly, it discusses the reading and diary writing of the protagonist in the novel, Albert Tiffauges. Then, we will delve into the author’s manipulation of reading and writing, examining how Tournier deftly weaves together reality and fantasy through his unique style and narrative technique. He skillfully integrates various texts read, whether historical or mythical, into his works. We will also study the reflections and associations of college students following their reading of the novel. Furthermore, we will analyze the resonances found in the reading The Erl-King by Tournier’s friend, the American photographer Arthur Tress. Tress’s photographic art echoes Tournier's novelistic aesthetics.
The research will thus rely on narration and interpretation, considered as an act of « bricolage » according to Paul Ricœur, highlighting the narrative essence not only of written History, but also of each individual’s personal history. Since narration involves a search of oneself, or a reflection on one’s own actions by the narrator, an « appropriation » in Ricoeur’s term, it inherently introduces a distance from past events. Additionally, we will incorporate Michel Picard’s theory of reading in order to analyze three postures of the reader: « le lectant », « le liseur » et « le lu ». Between reality, intelligence and sensitivity, between fantasy, desire and pleasure, the reader wanders through the present, the past and the future. Through this discussion, we hope to expand the possible reading paths of the novel.
