His name probably means nothing to you. That of his ex, certainly more. Nevertheless, Geneviève Morin is releasing a novel these days, a kind of autofiction on the painful theme of mourning in love, and above all its reconstruction. A moving text, and not just for the curious: it is indeed about toxic relationships, codependency, feminism and, surprise, resilience. Ah yes, and of the Alien saga too.
Posted at 6:00 a.m.
Let’s make things clear right away: yes, it is indeed the ex-girlfriend of Julien Lacroix, targeted, as we remember, by allegations of violence and sexual misconduct by nine women (including Geneviève Morin), in 2020. After 18 months of withdrawal from public life, the Quebec comedian has also recently engaged in daily The dutyclaiming to have stopped consuming, undergone therapy, and at the same time want to start working again.
“It revives things inside me, gently confides Geneviève Morin in an interview, but all of that is his own problems. And that’s not my book. My book is her problems [l’héroïne, à la première personne dans le texte]. ” It is said.
So if you are looking in this peace treaty for alien women, published Tuesday by Quebec America, “crispy” and unpublished details on Julien Lacroix, pass your turn. You won’t learn anything new here (her name is never even written, and Geneviève Morin will only mention it once in our entire interview).
On the other hand, if you would like to read a disturbing and archi-current story of rupture, and above all a reflection on amorous alienation and its difficult, but no less possible emancipation, in a fragmented text which is sometimes a diary, sometimes poetry, or downright theory (cinematic, feminist, psychological), you’ve come to the right place.
Amorous alienation
Because Geneviève Morin, who has a master’s degree in literary studies (and a dissertation written under the direction of Martine Delvaux), has been working on this text for a long time. She has been writing for years, in fact, to understand better. Analyze. To cure ? “I needed to externalize stuff, I didn’t feel very well in my life, in my relationship, then when I experienced my breakup, it just came out,” she explains in an interview.
What ? An autofictional account of a breakup, therefore (“inspired by a version of my facts”, she specifies cautiously), to which she intersperses “rehashed” extracts from her master’s thesis on, hold on tight , the Alien saga. Better still: his chronological account (of an “intense” albeit checkered relationship with an alcoholic and “parasitic” lover, in love one day, odious the next) squarely follows the development cycles of the monster, the facehugger to the xenomorph, via the chestburster, all interspersed with very theoretical reflections on the question of alienation, from a feminist perspective. Are you still following?
PHOTO DOMINICK GRAVEL, THE PRESS
I was obsessed with my relationship, and obsessed with my memory. And my memoir was about alienation. And my narrator feels alienated. So my book comes to mix theory and feelings.
Geneviève Morin, author
“She’s a girl broken by a relationship that didn’t work, and also by internalized mechanisms of women,” she sums up (she, the author, or the heroine, we don’t really know). Basically: this mania of “going to the rescue”, devoting oneself, helping, trying to save the other. Especially if that other has addictions. That he is dependent. And that we become codependent in doing so. In short, let us forget each other. And gets lost.
The xenomorphic woman
“There is no bad guy, no nice one, wishes to qualify Geneviève Morin here, but things that went wrong. Now, how do we reflect on these things that transform us? »
Things that transform us, or deform us, making us “xenomorphic”, to continue with the parallel of Alien. Because codependency is this: “There is a loss of a little of oneself in a relationship with the other who is intoxicated”, summarizes the author, speaking here of both her life and her story.
Hence her reflection on feminism, underlying everywhere in the text: “I think I was a very bad feminist”, her character will say bluntly.
“But what is it to be a feminist in 2022? adds the author. Am I less of a feminist if I don’t assert my rights in a relationship? Ultimately, it’s more about saying to yourself: I’m a feminist, but I realize that I was brought up to be a more patient, more empathetic person. Recognizing these things is part of healing. »
Speaking of healing, Geneviève Morin offers a very telling image in conclusion, combining resilience, acceptance and emancipation: “The greatest strength in life, in my opinion, is resilience. Rebuilding is assuming that there may be glue on the cracks, and that it’s okay to see it. That’s kind of what I needed to say to myself. “Need to afford a peace treaty, what. With himself. It is done.
In bookstores February 22
peace treaty for alien women
Genevieve Morin
Quebec America
224 pages