Samuel Beckett's statements on the inadequacy of criticism, the necessity of art, and the obligation of the artist, stem from a tradition that was current in the first decades of this century, particularly in Paris among visual artists; studied against this background they form a coherent 'aesthetic of nothing'. One of Beckett's most pertinent works written in relation to this aesthetic is the little-studied 'Texts for Nothing'. The main section of the thesis studies this abstruse work, particularly its chronology within the so-called impasse, initial and subsequent critical responses, and various critical approaches. It is found that narrative and thematic aspects (such as action, location, time, and identity) become progressively confused and reduced until such time that the reader is faced with a choice: either to remain within the 'perpetual flux' of the Texts, or to witness them as an objectification of a 'state of nothingness'. Structural investigations of the work - particularly rhythmical and 'musical' aspects - provide alternative metaphors to aid its appreciation. Related to other works by Beckett, 'Texts tor Nothing' is found to be quite distinct from 'The Unnamable' and indicative of developments in 'How It Is' and subsequent fiction. Particularly in the most recent shorter pieces the device of fiction becoming a state objectifying nothingness is perfected. Given these developments it is necessary to re-value 'Texts for Nothing' as a unique and significant part of the Beckett oeuvre. Appendices include a Questionnaire answered by Samuel Beckett, a discussion on variations and the translation of 'Texts for Nothing' from the original French, and an outline of theories of prose rhythm of relevance to the study; reference section and supporting tables and graphs. Selected bibliography.

Internationally known as a practising psychoanalyst, literary theoretician and critic, the French feminist Julia Kristeva has recently shifted her interest from theory to the novel, albeit that the boundary between theory and novel is indeterminate for her. This research is a study of her novels to date, <i>Les Samouraïs, Le vieil homme et les loups, </i>and <i>Possessions,</i> and the way in which they embody her theoretical works in the context of the relationship between French feminist theory and post-colonial (feminist) theory, as well as between French feminist theory and Anglo-American feminism. It is divided into two parts and six chapters. Part one examines the implications of how Kristeva’s problematic status as a French feminist can be situated in relation to post-colonial (feminist) theorists and critics. The starting point for this part is the feminist post-colonial theorist and critic Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak’s critique of Kristeva’s <i>Des Chinoises,</i> of which narcissism is the theme. A comparison is made, in the first chapter, between Spivak’s argument that Kristeva is a privileged informant in representing Chinese women in <i>Des Chinoises </i>and Kristeva’s fictional portrayal of her characters as a reincarnation of narcissus, which serves as the basis of my exploration into Kristeva’s theory of love. This is followed by a study of the correlation between Kristeva’s theory of melancholia and her fictional representation of it in the second chapter. The focus on the relationship between the work of Kristeva and that of the post-colonial critic David Punter at the end of the second chapter also continues to be the object of analysis in the third chapter. This aspect of the relationship between French feminist theory and post-colonial theory paves the way for my reading of Kristeva’s theory of the abject and abjection, an interpretation which brings part one to a conclusion. Part two starts with an introduction to Kristeva’s relationship with the other two French feminist theorists Hélène Cixous and Luce Irigaray, whose work and Kristeva’s become representative of French feminism. This understanding of French feminist theory among the Anglophone feminist reading public obscures the theoretical positions of feminist thought in France. The objective of this part is to destabilise the underlying assumption that French feminist theory is apolitical and Anglo-American feminism is political.

No description available.

This thesis aims to demonstrate the construction of masculinity in Grail romances, investigating the manner in which models of masculinity are created in relation to other models and the discourse of the masculine with the feminine, referring to studies in gender undertaken by Simon Grant and Sarah Kay. An important notion that is assumed at the opening of this study is the supposition that the hero of a romance represents the ideal model of masculinity, and it is this supposition I examine in this thesis. The investigation into the construction of masculinity necessitates an examination of the evolution of chivalry, evaluating the influence of theologians such as John of Salisbury, the manifestation of the Church’s view of chivalry in the Grail texts and its importance in creating an ideology of chivalry. This is the starting point from where an assessment of the construction of masculinity can begin, firstly by a study of the discourse of the ideal model of masculinity with a similar model, a case in which like is compared with like, incorporating a discussion of friendship derived from the Ciceronian model and that of Aelred of Rievalux through which is developed the notion of perfection in an individual inspiring other individuals leading on to the Girardian concept of the mimesis of desire as a mechanism by which the ideal model is imitated by similar models. Contrast is another means of the construction of the masculine ideal and the first point of call in the creation of the ideal model of masculinity is the interactions of the masculine with the feminine. These interactions serve the promotion of masculine subjectivity at the expense of the feminine and the interaction further bonds between the masculine that lead to imitation of the model by rendering an alternative model of masculinity identical to that of the hero, or the ideal model.

No description available.

No description available.

This thesis examines the Haitian writer Frankétienne’s practice of rewriting his own texts. It argues that rewriting shapes his oeuvre, providing him with the opportunity to mirror the characteristic openness and mobility of his principal literary aesthetic, the Spiral. Rewriting also enables him to bring out certain themes more clearly, such as zombification, deciphering, and cannibalism. These aesthetic and thematic aspects are, the thesis concludes, the most important functions at work in Frankétienne’s rewriting. I compare a corpus of Frankétienne’s texts with their rewritten versions, ranging from his earliest rewriting, <i>Les Affres d’un défi </i>(1979), through <i>Mûr à crever</i> (1995), <i>Ultravocal </i>(1995), up to <i>Les Métamorphoses de l’oiseau schizophone </i>(1996-7) and <i>Dezafi</i> (2002). The first chapter outlines the main hyperbolizing tendencies in Frankétienne’s rewriting of his Creole text <i>Dézafi </i>(1975) in <i>Les Affres d’un défi</i> (1979) and <i>Dezafi</i> (2002), arguing that <i>Les Affres d’un défi </i>can be seen as Frankétienne’s first rewriting, and not just as a French translation of <i>Dézafi</i>. In chapter two, I demonstrate that Frankétienne renews his first literary texts <i>Mûr à crever</i> (1968) and <i>Ultravocal </i>(1972) after a period of some thirty years by updating their initial presentation of Spiralism to reflect later developments in his aesthetic ideas, and through the addition of new and stronger allusions to recent events in Haiti. Based on Frankétienne’s most major rewriting to date – <i>Les Métamorphoses de l’oiseau schizophone </i>(1996-7) – chapters three and four show how Frankétienne’s thematic and aesthetic concerns become far more pronounced as his practice of rewriting evolves. When Frankétienne rewrites, I have found that he does so mainly by accretion, integrating additions of various lengths throughout his texts. My study shows that aesthetic concerns become more pronounced through added references to the open and mobile Spiral form, and to the aesthetic processes which constitute the rewriting itself. Four such processes are detected: <i>hyperbolization, deciphering/clarification</i>, <i>recapitulation, </i>and <i>cannibalization</i>. Clearer political references are often added, in particular to the dictatorship of François Duvalier, as well as to recent politically significant events in Haiti.

No description available.

The thesis considers the depiction and function of maternal characters within late twelfth and thirteenth-century texts, a topos which varies according to genre. The main generic category of the study is that of the <I>chanson de geste, </I>with additional chapters on romance, and on didactic literature pertaining to women. The ideological constructs of contemporary religious and medical teachings on the feminine/maternal provide an introduction and a background to the study, while modern feminist theory is used as a methodological and critical approach. The first chapter examines the inherent ambiguity of didactic texts, including those by Etienne de Fougères, Raymond Llull and Philippe de Novarre. The prescription of a code of ideal female conduct is here implicitly and constantly undercut by the sexualisation of the female body through the very strategies of writing which would seek to contain it, a problem which appears notably in Robert de Blois' <I>Chastoiement des Dames. </I>The authoritative stance taken by these texts is haunted by a fear that the very prescription of an ideal of behaviour may be symptomatic of failure, a disquiet also given voice by the many negative examples they cite. A tension is thus produced between the projected containment of female sexuality and the intimation that didactic writing always, by form and by content, undercuts its own prescriptive enterprise. Chapter 2 studies the role of the mother in the romance, in particular <I>Guillaume de Dole </I>and <I>La Manekine. </I>These texts reflect the concerns of didactic literature in their emphasis on female chastity and fidelity. Chapters 3-5 then compare the depiction of maternal characters in the <I>chanson de geste. </I>Although <I>chansons de geste </I>(e.g. the <I>Crusade Cycle </I>and <I>Berte as Grans Piés</I>) and romance both appear to subscribe to an idealised and ideologically-conforming model of femininity, in the <I>chanson de geste </I>constructions of the maternal are often undercut by the narrative disquiet which these can produce.

No description available.