Thesis (Ph. D.)--Columbia University, 1987. / Includes bibliographical references.

This thesis is concerned with the poetics of impoverishment as found in the works of Saint-Denys Garneau and Samuel Beckett. It seeks to shed light on the reactivation of a Christian ascetic heritage within modern writing forms (poetic and narrative) and also, more specifically, to develop a novel analysis of these works from the perspective of their points of overlap. This thesis presents analysis of the relationships between voice and body (part I), of the doppelganger and self-generation figures (part II), of prayer, desert and image motifs (part III) throughout the totality of both corpuses. The comparative reading of the works of Beckett and Garneau highlights the complex relationship they entertain with certain Christian schemes (incarnation, sin, asceticism, kenosis) which they put into play on a properly literary level. This investigation also reveals that, within both works, these Christian schemes echo the aesthetic concerns of modernity (auto-foundation of the subject, authenticity, autonomy and purification of forms). / Key terms: Saint-Denys Garneau, Samuel Beckett, literary modernity, asceticism, poverty, doppelganger, Christianism, French-Canadian literature, French literature, Irish literature

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