Issued also as thesis, Zürich.

Thèse--Istanbul, 1965. / Summary in Turkish. Bibliography: p. [123]-125.

Texte remanié de: Diss.--Philosophy--Minneapolis, 1979. / Thèse soutenue sous le titre : "Monde des sens, rhétorique et structure chez Georges Bernanos"

Thèse--Istanbul, 1965. / Summary in Turkish. Bibliography: p. [123]-125.

Diss.--Catholic University of America, 1959. / Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references.

Thèse--Lettres--Paris III, 1977. / La couv. porte en plus : "de l'exorcisme à l'exégèse" Bibliogr. des œuvres de G. Bernanos, p. I-III. Bibliogr. p. IX-XXXIII.

Thèse--Fribourg. / Bibliography: p. 307-318.

Thèse--Fribourg. / Bibliography: p. 307-318.

Confronter écriture fictionnelle narrative et transcendance à partir des métamorphoses que le romancier Georges Bernanos fait subir à son œuvre pendant les vingt années de son élaboration, nécessite une triple approche critique : générique, génétique, herméneutique. L’étude générique permet de comprendre comment les huit narrations relèvent le défi d’intégrer une notion à la fois théologique, métaphysique et mystique dans un cadre fictionnel par une mise en roman non réductrice. L’analyse génétique dessine une topographie et une chronographie des métamorphoses de cette écriture, de la page manuscrite raturée et corrigée à la totalité achevée de l’œuvre romanesque, sans oublier le bloc autonome et homogène constitué par l’unité scripturale et structurelle du roman. L’investigation herméneutique révèle les deux supports privilégiés au déploiement de cette écriture : la bible comme transcendance textuelle et l’aventure mystique chrétienne comme transcendance faite chair. / Confronting fictional narrative writing and transcendence thanks to the metamorphosis that the novelist Georges Bernanos had been subjecting his work to for its twenty years’ development requires a threefold critical approach: generic, genetic, hermeneutic. The generic study makes it clear how the eight narrations are challenged to integrate a theological, metaphysical and mystical concept in a fictional setting with a non-reductive novel. Genetic analysis is pointing out a metamorphosis’s topography and timeline of the writing in the corrected crossed-out hand-written page, and in the completed fiction work, not to mention the homogeneous self-block consisting in the scriptural and structural unit of a novel. The hermeneutic investigation reveals the two preferred deployment means of this writing: the Bible as textual transcendence and the Christian mystical adventure as incarnate transcendence.

In the fictional world of the twentieth century author, Georges Bernanos, a medieval spirituality is reflected through Christocentric imagery. This study highlights the Christocentric focus of medieval spirituality found in three bernanosian characters: Donissan in Sous le Soleil de Satan, Chantal in La Joie, and le cure d'Ambricourt in Journal d'un cure de campagne. Two medieval images, the Mirror and the Way, provided a backdrop for considering common thematic characteristics. This study is divided into two parts. Part One comprises two chapters which present background for textual analysis in Bernanos' three novels. Chapter one explores formative elements in medieval spirituality. These include: descriptions of the medieval mindset, clerical and ecclesial influences, devotional trends related to themes of Christocentric imitation, edification images, specifically, the Mirror and the Way, and chivalry. Chapter two presents formative elements in Bernanos' spirituality. Familial, clerical and ecclesial influences of his childhood contributed to his Christocentric spirituality. Biographical descriptions of Bernanos' adolescent and adult years reveal similarities of his lived experience to medieval themes of pilgrimage, chivalry and imitation. In Part Two, Donissan, Chantal and le cure are considered in the context of medieval trends to imitate Christ. Images of the Way and the Mirror emerge in the four chapters of this section. In chapter three, a textual analysis is presented which juxtaposes virtuous qualities of each main character to the virtues of the medieval devotion to the Infancy. In chapters four and five, the characters are described in relation to another major devotional trend of medieval times: the Passion. Chapter four considers the bernanosian saints as imitators of Jesus' agony while chapter five addresses their imitation of his Way of the cross. In both chapters, imagery related to medieval Christ-like imitation is identified. Chapter six highlights themes of death and resurrection, the culminating steps of the medieval journey of imitation. Descriptions of Bernanos' saintly instruments of grace emphasize their adherence to the medieval pursuit towards wholeness. Dawn imagery and the theme of communion of saints are treated in this discussion of transformation. Endnotes accompany each of the six chapters.