%0 Journal Article %T Rachilde and the vocation of the writer %A Staroń, Anita %J Cahiers ERTA %V 2023 %R 10.4467/23538953CE.23.018.17935 %N Numéro 34 %P 189-205 %K literary vocation, childhood, pride, unconsciousness, loneliness %@ 2300-4681 %D 2023 %U https://ejournals.eu/en/journal/cahiers-erta/article/rachilde-et-la-vocation-de-lecrivain %X What is Rachilde’s vocation? Could her life have taken another course rather than the literary way? According to what she declares in her autobiographical or semi-autobiographical texts, it turns out that this profession, chosen consciously in her early years, had saved her from madness. Drawing inspiration from the psychoanalytical observations contained in Catherine Millot’s book La Vocation de l’écrivain, the present study attempts to establish the sources of the literary career chosen by Rachilde, her own ways of exercising it and the point of achievement that she could reach by accomplishing certain choices. For Rachilde, there is no enjoyment outside of writing.