Emotional narratives and care discourse in contemporary women-centred popular fiction: The case of Sophie Tal Men

Tsapro, Galyna (2026) Emotional narratives and care discourse in contemporary women-centred popular fiction: The case of Sophie Tal Men Закарпатські філологічні студії, 3 (45). pp. 295-301. ISSN 2663-4899

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Abstract

The article examines how emotional experience and care are represented in contemporary women-centred popular fiction on the material of four novels by the French writer Sophie Tal Men. The analysis starts from the observation that emotions and care in these texts are rarely named directly. Instead, they are woven into everyday situations, character interaction and narrative perspective. Emotional meaning is not explained to the reader but gradually emerges through perception, hesitation, bodily reaction and small acts of attention. The study is based on an author-specific corpus of four novels published between 2018 and 2024. The analysis combines close reading with corpus-assisted observation of frequent lexical items and verbs occurring in emotionally marked contexts. Particular attention is paid to verbs of perception and internal response (sentir, sembler, hésiter), which frame emotion as unstable and processual rather than fixed. These verbal choices position emotional experience within the character’s perspective and leave space for interpretation rather than emotional closure. The article also shows that care in the analysed novels is not presented as an abstract value or as an explicitly stated emotion. It is realised through repeated actions and forms of presence expressed by verbs such as rester, aider, écouter, and veiller. Care appears in moments of silence, waiting, and practical involvement, often without verbal reassurance. In this way, emotional narratives and care discourse are closely connected: care provides a practical and ethical framework within which emotional experience unfolds. The findings suggest that women-centred popular fiction relies on indirect verbalisation and relational practices to represent both emotion and care, grounding them in ordinary interaction rather than in expressive emotional language.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	women-centred popular fiction; emotional experience; care discourse; corpus-assisted analysis; narratology; Sophie Tal Men
Subjects:	Статті у періодичних виданнях > Фахові (входять до переліку фахових, затверджений МОН)
Divisions:	Факультет романо-германської філології > Кафедра англійської мови та комунікації
Depositing User:	доцент Галина Юріївна Цапро
Date Deposited:	11 May 2026 13:03
Last Modified:	11 May 2026 13:03
URI:	https://elibrary.kubg.edu.ua/id/eprint/57364

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