Awakenings

Growing up. Confronting others, facing the first disappointments, the gaze of others, the expectations of the world. And then make discoveries. Understand, reveal yourself to yourself, to others. Build yourself. Through snippets of Juliette Mancini tells her story about her life and her journey, but also about world in which she grew up. The virile legend of the grandfather who made war; the first sexist clichés (the strength of boys, the grace of girls); the first hand on the buttocks in the crowd, the fear and shame that arise, but also the discovery that one can be desirable. By choosing these significant moments, or in any case significant ones, of his life and his paths, deconstructing them with the greatest acuity, Juliette Mancini achieves a feat that is all too rare, that of transforming the particular into universal. With modesty, delicacy, intelligence, and just the right amount of put at a distance, it thus takes us from childhood to adulthood, from the acceptance of false evidence to the debunking of myths, to better to dissect the injunctions of a society so quick to assign us roles. His previous book, De la Chevalerie, already looked at the mechanisms of domination, and, without Manichaeism, rightly highlighted the complexity of these mechanisms, refusing the (too) simple dominant-dominated duality. It is the same finesse of analysis which is at work here, in demonstrating, for example, how the The gaze of the other can have something alternately flattering, inquisitorial or demeaning. It also reminds us how paradoxes and contradictions seem to be the property of human beings; but also, without doubt, which makes it rich. With Eveils, Juliette Mancini has created a powerful work, an openly political book, which, more than just stating truths, made, invites reflection. A great success.