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The aspect of the universality of the work under consideration in this article is connected to C.G. Jung's work on alchemy as part of the collective unconsciousness. What Jung calls the process of individuation, or alchemy of the spirit, as discussed in this article, is translated in Marguerite Yourcenar's work not only through textual images, but in particular, through the narrative techniques. In other words the narrative exerts a kind of alchemy on the reader while the hero is engaged in the alchemical journey. In "L'Oeuvre au Noir," it is not simply a question of the treatment of the alchemical theme by Yourcenar, or of a discussion of the alchemical steps through which the hero passes, or even of a vocabulary impregnated with alchemy. Rather the dislocations of space and time to which the protagonist is subjected are brought about through the changes of focalisation and distance between the reader, the narrator and the protagonist. The narrative techniques themselves introduce the dissolution of time and space necessary for the protagonist's self-realisation as he undertakes the terrifying journey in the nigredo, or first stage of the alchemical process. At the same time, these techniques effect a temporal and spatial dislocation on the reader, who then not only shares the alchemist's vision, but also follows his path of individuation, and in this way, participates in his quest. This is alchemy exerted on the reader through the text itself: alchemy exerting its power at the very limits of narration. |
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