Solange MarriotAuthor
The author of the radically decent novel Rien du tout, ou la conséquence, which attempts to reach the limit of what writing can do by writing nothing.
Mme Solange MarriotMme Solangeauthoress
The ReviewerLiterary Critic / Narrator
A literary critic analyzing Marriot's novel and the inherent lie of traditional literature.
Iwe
Roland BarthesEssayist
The author of the essay 'Le Degré zéro de l'écriture', whom the reviewer criticizes as having a shallow intellect for not understanding that literature is parasitic on the reader's mind.
Pierre MenardFictional author
A literary fanatic in a Borges story who rewrote Don Quixote word for word to demonstrate how historical context changes meaning.
Miguel de CervantesAuthor
The 17th-century author of Don Quixote, whose 'innocent rhetoric' contrasts with the cynical meaning of the same words in a modern context.
Cervanteslayman genius
William JamesPhilosopher
A contemporary of Pierre Menard, mentioned in the context of pragmatic approaches to historical truth.
Paul ValéryPoet
A poet known for his exquisitely beautiful, bewitching, but purely private and unobjective literary depictions of nonbeing.
VautrinFictional character
A character by Balzac cited as being as nonexistent as Faust's devil, illustrating that literature is a lie.
Faust's devilFictional character
A nonexistent literary character used to demonstrate the fundamental untruth of literature.
The MarquiseHypothetical character
A hypothetical character invented by the reviewer to demonstrate the failure of simple grammatical negations in literature.
The unbeloved heroineNonexistent protagonist
The central figure of Marriot's novel, who is defined by what she cannot do and ultimately by her simple lack of existence.
unbeloved
A certain criticLiterary critic
A reader who found the anatomical negations in Marriot's novel to be an 'anatomical bore, if not a vulgarity'.
member of the Academyacademician