The Animal Eye in Claude Simon's Novels
L' œil animal dans l’œuvre de Claude Simon
Résumé
The motif of the animal eye is recurrent in Claude Simon's novels, whether it is on the occasion of the encounter with an animal by a human character who ``sees himself seen'', or in a comparison that gives animal qualities to a human being. The eye, ``seen instead of seeing'', is an interface that allows contact with the animal, enigmatic and unpredictable figure of absolute otherness, but it also becomes a mirror for the human character, who recognizes their own image. Finally, the narrator may detect animal traits in the characters' eyes. Far from being limited to a form of anthropozoomorphic caricature, this animalization of the human look, coupled with a humanization of the animal gaze, testifies to the porosity of the borders drawn by the author between animal species and human species, whose members have a gaze that animalizes the objects and the world around them.