The main objective of this thesis is to study the representation of the mother-daughter relationship in Rue Deschambault and La Route dAltamont, works of Gabrielle Roy. We will present, initially, an overview of the dominant ideological representation of women in the French-Canadian novel before 1945 and then study the manner in which Roy recounts and interprets the experiences of the women of her time. Thus, we will be led to indicate how the representation of Roys female figures reflects a certain transformation of the role of women in French-Canadian literature and society. In the first chapter we will analyze certain aspects of Roys first-person narrative. We will pay particular attention to aspects of the "autobiographical imagination," the representation of the maternal figure and the mother-daughter relationship, and the notion of being part of a "female genealogy". </p> In the second chapter we will reveal how the mother-daughter relationship contains a patriarchal message which encourages the daughter to embrace a certain role within her family. Moreover, we will study the process of awakening which brings the daughter as Roy constructs her to a desire for demarcation and emancipation from the maternal figure.</p>In the final chapter we will study the themes of travel, the mother, and writing in the novels we have been studying. These topics are studied in order to highlight how the themes of travel and writing are related to the theme of the desire to both draw closer to and move away from the mother. They highlight the daughters quest for space and identity of her own through expanding her horizons and affirming the legitimacy of her own imagination and creative processes.</p>We will conclude by affirming that Roy offers fresh perspectives on the representation of the maternal figure and mother-daughter relationships in French-Canadian literature.

The main objective of this thesis is to study the representation of the mother-daughter relationship in Rue Deschambault and La Route dAltamont, works of Gabrielle Roy. We will present, initially, an overview of the dominant ideological representation of women in the French-Canadian novel before 1945 and then study the manner in which Roy recounts and interprets the experiences of the women of her time. Thus, we will be led to indicate how the representation of Roys female figures reflects a certain transformation of the role of women in French-Canadian literature and society. In the first chapter we will analyze certain aspects of Roys first-person narrative. We will pay particular attention to aspects of the "autobiographical imagination," the representation of the maternal figure and the mother-daughter relationship, and the notion of being part of a "female genealogy". </p> In the second chapter we will reveal how the mother-daughter relationship contains a patriarchal message which encourages the daughter to embrace a certain role within her family. Moreover, we will study the process of awakening which brings the daughter as Roy constructs her to a desire for demarcation and emancipation from the maternal figure.</p>In the final chapter we will study the themes of travel, the mother, and writing in the novels we have been studying. These topics are studied in order to highlight how the themes of travel and writing are related to the theme of the desire to both draw closer to and move away from the mother. They highlight the daughters quest for space and identity of her own through expanding her horizons and affirming the legitimacy of her own imagination and creative processes.</p>We will conclude by affirming that Roy offers fresh perspectives on the representation of the maternal figure and mother-daughter relationships in French-Canadian literature.

Parmi les études portant sur les stratégies d'écrivains et la fabrication de l'auteur, il est un sujet encore peu exploité: celui du rôle attribué à la photographie d'écrivain. Bien que l'on se soit intéressé à quelques écrivains européens, les études de cas québécois sont inconnues, mis à part un chapitre du livre de Pascal Brissette portant sur Émile Nelligan dans son ouvrage Nelligan dans tous ses états. Un mythe national. L'objectif général de ce mémoire consiste à montrer quels peuvent être les rôles de la photographie d'écrivain dans la construction d'une figure d'auteur du champ littéraire québécois. Dans un premier temps, il est question de l'évolution du statut de l'auteur en regard de la représentation physique de l'écrivain. Nous voyons à quel moment la photographie apparaît, au Québec, sur les livres. Puis, nous nous intéressons aux diverses modalités de la représentation physique contemporaine de l'auteur: de l'écrivain immortalisé dans un univers de représentations connues à la photographie qui prépare ou confirme la lecture d'une oeuvre. Dans un second temps, nous effectuons une étude de cas, celle de la figure d'auteure de Gabrielle Roy. En identifiant les effets induits sur la figure de l'écrivaine, nous étudions à quels moments et pourquoi ses éditeurs principaux, Beauchemin, Stanké et Boréal, ont choisi telle photographie plutôt qu'une autre pour accompagner un texte donné. Par l'étude de diverses sources telles la correspondance, la biographie de l'auteure, les témoignages de ses éditeurs, nous voyons également quels rapports Gabrielle Roy entretient, tout au long de sa carrière, avec son image et avec ses éditeurs.

Gabrielle Roy's novels are filled with images of childhood and aging, of family, of rural and urban French-Canadian settings, and of Roy's experiences as a young, impressionable teacher. The generation gaps present themselves in many human relationships and thread themselves throughout Roy's works. For this thesis, the generation gaps will be studied in three important relationships. Part One presents largely the relationships within the microcosm of the family. It explores the gap between mothers and daughters. La Rue Deschambault, La Route d'Altamont, and Bonheur d'Occasion are included. The relationship between the father and child in La Rue Deschambault, Bonheur d'Occasion, and Alexandre Chenevert will then be explored. Important elements of these relationships are: the circle of life, the inevitable resemblances between parent and child, and their reversal of roles as the parent ages. Part Two focuses on bridging the gap between teacher and student in Gabrielle Roy's works. This relationship is studied extensively in both La Petite Poule d'Eau and Ces Enfants de Ma Vie. The teachers in Roy's works represent the link from the family to the outside world, as education empowers students to progress. Part Two also presents the elderly as teachers of the children in their lives. This special relationship is seen in La Route d'Altamont. Part Three studies the relationship between life and nature. Roy's urban novels, Bonheur d'Occasion and Alexandre Chenevert, in which the author draws contrasts between rural and urban life, are explored. The gap between the urban dweller and nature is focused on in Alexandre Chenevert. The bond that links humankind and animals is studied in La Montagne Secrete. There is an important contrast between the inherent need for solitude and humankind's communion. The artist's place within the universe is shown to be unique. In this macro setting of humankind and the universe, all human relation ships take their places within these interwoven, circular patterns.

Thèse (M.A.)--McGill University, 1997. / Comprend des réf. bibliogr.

The therapeutic nature of Gabrielle Roy's works enables an Aristotelian catharsis to take place for her audience. As her readers plunge into their individual past, they can have an awakening. Upon realizing that the characters in Roy's literary creation hold to a specific definition of elusive happiness and after discovering that they also are plagued by a fixation to some type of Freudian trauma, the readers can recognize similar behavior in themselves. Though likely they were unconscious of their ongoing distress before, now it becomes clear that their tendency to displace themselves in pursuit of a utopian existence is perpetual and necessitates a cure. Given that humanity in general, whether consciously or unconsciously, is nostalgic for the past, how could a universal panacea be found? Gabrielle Roy also suffered from an unending proclivity to displace herself in search of ethereal bliss. Perhaps in writing her life story through the guise of her characters, she brought about her own catharsis. Not so. Any temporary relief ended with the ensuing agony of facing an ever-frightening world. Nevertheless, the key to discovering a remedy lies within the framework of her texts. Through the application of literary theory as well as anthropology and psychology, this thesis unveils the unique modus operandi needed to overcome fixation to a particular phase in the past. Gabrielle Roy's clarion call to the world to promote human tenderness can be answered through choosing to put into practice the principles implicit in her works. When we comprehend the relationship between the story and displacement, we as individuals can initiate our own healing and thereafter stimulate healing in others.

No description available.

The work of Gabrielle Roy cannot be dissociated from the story of her life. Many have already tried to establish a definite connection between these two aspects of her life. Among the themes that are ever present in her texts and of particular interest to readers is her preoccupation with the past. The text of Mircea Eliade is important to the theoretical framework of the following thesis. His postulating that human beings constantly repeat their past to find meaning to their lives is capital to my analysis of Gabrielle Roy's texts. Indeed, her preoccupation with the past stems from a desire on her part to understand and live with her present. This thesis analyses how through returning constantly to her past, Gabrielle Roy, either directly or through her characters, engages in a ritual that gives to her life a « raison d’être ». The first chapter focuses on a return in time and the second chapter is devoted to studying a return in space, both of which belong to the past.

Many anthropological studies have shown the prevalence of the sacred in primitive societies, manifested primarily in significant gestures such as exchanges, rituals, festivals, and the use of time and space. Some studies, in particular those of Roger Caillois and Mircea Eliade, have demonstrated that traces of the sacred, though seemingly displaced, remain present in modern and secular societies. This thesis will examine and bring to light these remnants of sacred behavior in the contemporary settings of the stories of Gabrielle Roy, focusing primarily on food-sharing, gift-giving, and festivals. Each analysis presented will detail how different aspects of the sacred are manifested in contemporary, though fictional, society, and each will permit individuals to identify ways in which modern man, whether religious or secular, is still very connected to sacred practices.

No description available.