Résumé

The paper will approach Assumption as an heir of earlier Everett stories, most visibly among the short stories. Describing the novel’s filiation with earlier texts leads to two paths. We will first see how, starting from supposedly familiar ground (Ogden seems not to be a first-comer) the novel leads the reader to a dreamland full of sand pits that culminates with Ogden’s question to Warren « What makes sense in this world? » Secondly, the paper will also discuss the novel from the standpoint of Jacques Rancière’s distinction between « police », received/assumed opinions and behaviors, vs. « politics », personal standpoints straying from generally accepted truths and conducts. Such seems to be the novel’s itinerary.

L'auteur

Claude Julien, now retired from Tours University, has taught American studies, while African-American studies were his research field. He has been a member of the CAAR board. He organized the first-ever conference on Percival Everett’s fiction, and that took place in France. It gave rise to Reading Percival Everett, (CRAFT n°4) a collection of essays published by the Tours University Press. Reading has gone on since then, as book after book came out.

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