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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.
List 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
About the author
Constantina Thalia Mitchell is Professor of French at Gallauder University (Washington D.C.). She holds a Ph.D. in French literature from McGill University and a
licence ès lettres from the Sorbonne. Her publications include works on Paul Verlaine, Anne Hérbert, Yves Beauchemin, and nineteenth- and twentieth century deaf history of Québec. She has served on the executive and editiorial boards of the American Council for Québec Studies, as well as the Galluader University Press editorial board.
Summary
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.
Additional text
"... 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
