Putting Hodgkin's lymphoma into words : Anne François's Nu-tête

Verdier, Caroline (2023) Putting Hodgkin's lymphoma into words : Anne François's Nu-tête. Francosphères, 12 (1). pp. 45-61. ISSN 2046-3839 (https://doi.org/10.3828/franc.2023.4)

[thumbnail of Verdier-Francospheres-2023-Putting-Hodgkins-lymphoma-into-words]
Preview
 Text. Filename: Verdier_Francospheres_2023_Putting_Hodgkins_lymphoma_into_words.pdf
Final Published Version
License: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 logo
Download (465kB)| Preview

Abstract

The sick body has been the focus of a number of narratives by contemporary francophone women writers, and several of them shared their experiences of breast cancer treatments and recovery (for example, Lydia Flem, La Reine Alice (2011)). There has, however, been less attention given to some other forms of cancer in francophone literature. This article thus proposes to analyse the work of lesser-known Belgian writer, Anne François (1958–2006), who wrote about Hodgkin's lymphoma. François explores this cancer and its treatment in her 1991 novel Nu-tête (Prix Rossel), through the character of Cécile. Although François claimed that the novel was a work of fiction, the narrative is clearly based on her own experience of the illness in 1980 and takes the reader through the various steps of the diagnosis and treatment from the perspectives of both the patient and her doctor, each using a very different language. Drawing on the works of Anne Hunsaker Hawkins, Rita Charon, and Arthur W. Frank, this article examines how this polyphonic text, written before pathographies became a more popular genre in contemporary literature, already foregrounded some of the key themes found in cancer accounts, such as the gap in discourse in the fundamental relationship between the patient and doctors and the expression of corporeal and emotional suffering induced by the illness and the medical procedures. Interestingly, the narrative also showcases the 'translation' of the patient into sets of medical images and measurements throughout their journey with illness.

CORE (COnnecting REpositories)