Colette, Curnonsky, and the Willy workshop. Assessing relative contributions and influences beyond "collaborative authorship"

Florian Cafiero, Marie Puren

Abstract: What was the influence on the French writer Colette of her first husband Willy and his literary workshop? Her opinion varied greatly, depending on the time she spoke. When asked just after the publication of the Claudine, a series of books published from 1900 to 1903 initially under the sole name of her husband Willy, Colette admitted her contribution with a hint of a smile: "[Willy] crie si obstinément ma participation [aux Claudine] que je dois m'incliner" ("[Willy] so obstinately cries out for my participation [in the Claudine] that I must bow down"). But in 1936 in her autobiographical work Mes Apprentissages, and until her death in 1954, Colette changed her tone and insisted on Willy's minor role in the writing of these books, until her first husband's name disappeared from the cover of the novels. When Colette was asked if Willy helped her to write these texts, she replied in 1949: "Plutôt par des indications, mais ça ne peut s'appeler une aide..." ("Rather by indications, but it can not be called a help ... "). Which Colette should we believe? In this paper, we analyze texts that we have occluded and corrected. Using artificial intelligence profiling techniques, we show that Claudine's texts at school bear the influence of Willy and his workshop.