«Hanging by a String». Self-Narrative in Sylvie Laliberté's Phototextual Work

Abstract

According to Claude Burgelin, contemporary autobiographical writing seeks to forge links between the self and the outside world, between memory and the present, while exploring the limits of literature. Sylvie Laliberté, a Quebec artist of Italian origin, embodies this approach in her phototext Je ne tiens qu'à un fil. Mais c'est un très bon fil (2015). The title, both ironic and fragile, evokes the precariousness of existence and the resilience of identity, symbolised by a red string that runs through the work. In an intermedial and fragmented narrative, Laliberté combines texts, images and objects to compose a kind of individual mythology. The pages alternate between prose, aphorisms in colourful capital letters, and photography. This fragmentation reflects the complexity of contemporary life, where identity is constructed in fragments, between memory and everyday life. The portmanteau word “sylvielaliberté”, handwritten in red string, embodies her intimate self, distinct from her social “I”. This doubling reveals an inner dialectic: a woman who is both rebellious and vulnerable, attentive to others. The string structures the narrative, connecting the fragments of a life. The author explores her role as a woman and her place in the world with writing that is brief and poetic, condensed with emotions and reflections, mixing banality and depth. Her narrative, between irony and melancholy, shows how writing about oneself becomes an act of resistance and permanent reconstruction.