Fiction – in the hands of powerful men and women – can influence society and politics, directly or indirectly. Although the role of a novelist is different from the role of a politician, they both...Show moreFiction – in the hands of powerful men and women – can influence society and politics, directly or indirectly. Although the role of a novelist is different from the role of a politician, they both have responsibilities towards society, especially if they are famous and powerful men like Houellebecq and Macron. The public, citizens in a democracy, also have their responsibility to be active and critical, but may not always be aware of "the art of manipulation". In this age, in which storytelling and "fake news" seem to have more impact (or credibility) than arguments and facts, we might state that the power of skillful writers is more important than ever. In what way are Houellebecq and Macron responsible for (the impact of) their writings, what is the power of their words, and what does this power mean in France today? In this thesis we compare Submission and Revolution, using theories from literature but also from sociology and historiography, notably the concepts of "performativity" and “storytelling”, applicable in several fields. Attentive to their differences, we'll compare a literary and a political book, analysing the use of fiction combined with politics and vice versa.Show less
In this thesis, I analyze the view that the narrator of Madame Bovary takes on the society of the (fictional) French provincial town of Yonville. Gustave Flaubert, the author of the novel, strongly...Show moreIn this thesis, I analyze the view that the narrator of Madame Bovary takes on the society of the (fictional) French provincial town of Yonville. Gustave Flaubert, the author of the novel, strongly insist in his famous Correspondence on the impersonality and the objectivity of the author. Being the emissary of the author, the narrator therefore also has the task to withhold himself from any subjective statements or emotions and so on. However, there are multiple indications (both resulting from the novel itself and from the remarks of scholars) that question the approach so called ‘impersonal’ of the narrator. Giving ironic descriptions of his characters, and sometimes mocking them overtly, he doesn’t always seem to live up to the position of an objective narrator. Apparently, there is a contrast between Flaubert’s aesthetics (as pronounced in his Correspondence), that state that the narrator has to stay impersonal and even impassive, and the actual approach of the narrator in Madame Bovary. The claim we have made is that the narrator is above all a person himself as well, who has his own feelings that he expresses accordingly.Show less
Ce mémoire examine le rôle du 'négatif' dans la théorie littéraire de Maurice Blanchot, son lien avec 'l'espace littéraire', et l'influence de Martin Heidegger à ce propos.
The literary phenomena of segmentation in La vie mode d'emploi makes the reader purposely suffer in a way similar to Perec, in relation to his traumatic and problematic past. With the help of...Show moreThe literary phenomena of segmentation in La vie mode d'emploi makes the reader purposely suffer in a way similar to Perec, in relation to his traumatic and problematic past. With the help of psychoanalytical notions such as "defense mechanisms", "transference", "counter-transference", "trauma"; and terms from contemporary cognitive behavioural sources, I corroborate this assertion. As memories are necessary according to Freud for a bereavement process, Perec lacks them, and therefore this process would not be possible. Nevertheless, I show that contemporary ideas about "dissociation", bereavement and auto-narrative, supports my claim that La vie mode d'emploi can be seen as a literary representation of a bereavement process.Show less
