Description
Book Synopsis The dialogue between form and message is intrinsic to the novel as genre. Yet the strength of that discourse has been shaken in the twentieth century by an increasing doubt about affirmations of any kind and a growing awareness of the relativity of knowledge and perception. The novel reflects this intellectual current by turning its glance inward to mediate on the creative act as a form of self-contained assertion of its own particular significance. The three writers on whom this study focuses, all major twentieth century authors, were chosen because they can be considered as important representatives of this novelistic self-consciousness. Building on André Malraux's vision of the colloquium as an open-ended verbal interchange, this study calls upon the voices of Anne Hérbert and Patrick Modiano to enter into a dialogue on novelistic form.
Trade Review "... the authors ... show us in admirable detail how the authors have created self-referential works which make the novel a vital part of the artistic expression ... draws upon an extensive bibliography and a thorough understanding of how to incorporate critical theory ... an incontrovertible source." · Canadian Literature
"... provides useful readings of important literary texts of our time, but, more than that, it provides food for reflection on the value of the literary project in the postmodern era." · Quebec Studies
"... a detailed study, based on a sound understanding of Malraux's, Hébert's and Modiano's works and of modern and postmodern literary criticism. It will rekindle your interest in these authors or will compel you to deepen and enrich it." · French Review
Table of Contents Abbreviations
Introduction
PART I: COLLOQUIUM AS TEXT/TEXT AS COLLOQUIUM: ANDRÉ MALRAUX'S LES NOYERS DE L'ALTENBURG
Chapter 1. Situating the Work: An Overview
- A Literature of Uncertainty
- Les Noyers de L'Altenburg: Genesis and Critical Response
Chapter 2. The Opening of the Son's Account
- The Noyers Incipit and Textual Framing
- Chartres Prison Camp: Writer(s) Writing
- Berger's Dream or a Text in Search of Embodiment
- Parodic Representations of Written and Oral Discourse
Chapter 3. The Father's Cycle: Embedding / Telling
- Enclosure and Access
- Inscriptions of Writing
- The Core Segment
- The Altenburg Colloquium
Chapter 4. The Text's Inverted Continuum: The Flanders Account
Chapter 5. The Néocritique Colloquium and Les Noyers de l'Altenburg
- The Pluralistic Point of View
- Deferral of Resolution
- The Medium as Message
- Relativization of Events and Individuals
- Value Systems
- Metamorphosis
- The Role of Chance
PART II: VOICES, DREAMS AND NARRATIVE ORGANIZATION: ANNE HÉRBERT'S L'ENFANT CHARGÉ DE SONGES
Chapter 6. The Drama of the Self
Chapter 7. The Paris Narrative
- Entering the Text: The Dragon Mother as Muse
- Circumscription and Concentricity: The Urban Nexus
Chapter 8. The Duchesnay-Quebec City Narrative
- Voices of Conflict: Centrifugal and Centripetal Forces
- Interaction of Voices/Manner of Communication
- Laughter's Relativization of the Sublime, the Profane, and the Carnivalesque
Chapter 9. Thematization and Structural Articulation: Writing and Art as Referents
- The Epistolary Mode
- The Text's Dialogue with Literature and Music
Chapter 10. Routes of Exploration
- The Hébertian Road
- Dreams
PART III: ABSENCE, INQUIRY, AND FABRICATION: TEXTUAL REPRESENTATION IN THE NOVELS OF PATRICK MODIANO
Chapter 11. Surveying the Literary Terrain
Chapter 12. Mnemosyne's Spell
Chapter 13. Specularity and the Void as Text
- Writing and Vacuity: Vestiaire de l'enfance
- A Paradigm of the Textual Abyss: Voyage de Noces
- Bringing the Text to Light: Fleurs de ruine
- Narrative Reweaving in Un Cirque passe and Chien de printemps
Chapter 14. The Then and Now of Modiano's Novelistic World
Bibliography
Index
