In this thesis, I propose a fresh reading of a neglected work, Michel Butor’s L’Emploi du temps, examining why it had such a profound impact upon W G Sebald, how that influence is manifested in Sebald’s work, and most importantly, what that shows us about L’Emploi du temps, when we re-examine it through that lens. I will show that its reach is much greater than has been acknowledged, both in terms of the range of Sebald’s work in which one can hear the echoes of Butor, and the duration of those echoes.
I will show that L’Emploi du temps is haunted by Butor’s experience of growing up during the Occupation of Paris, and that the fictional city of Bleston, whilst inspired by Manchester, is a mask behind which that Paris hides. This new reading resonates with earlier ways of understanding the work, and will generate in turn further ways of navigating the streets of Bleston. Butor explores themes of memory, trauma and exile, themes that strongly connect his work with that of Sebald. To draw these elements together, I use the motif of the labyrinth, at the heart of L’Emploi du temps, and pervasive in Sebald’s work. This image from antiquity had renewed significance in the post-war world, where it seemed to speak not only of complexity and confusion, but of disorientation and loss of faith. I have used this motif to structure my thesis, exploring the significance of the labyrinth in depictions of the city, in language and narrative structure, and in the musical architecture of the fugue.
Butor is my starting point, as he was Sebald’s, and it is to Butor that I will keep returning, using Sebald’s insights to shed new light on L’Emploi du temps.
