Les relectures empathiques (im)possibles d’Un alligator nommé Rosa de Marie-Célie Agnant

The aim of the present paper is to answer the question whether it is possible to reread the book Un alligator nommé Rosa (2007) by Marie-Célie Agnant, a Quebec writer of Haitian origins, through the lenses of empathy and of what A. Gefen (2017) names the “empathetic participation” of the reader. The book tells the story of two victims of Rosa Bosquet (based on the real person), the cruel right-hand woman of former Haitian president F. Duvallier, who decide to punish Rosa, now old, paralyzed, mute, and entirely defenseless. The paper is divided into three parts, analyzing the three main protagonists and their possible empathetic reception by the reader. It turns out that the narrative strategies used by Agnant and the changes of role between executioner and victim, provoke that the empathy is frequently blocked. It does not mean however that the empathetic rereading of the book is vain: it makes the reader reflect on the nature of Good and Evil and encourages them to “repair the world”.