Thesis (M.A.)--York University, 1998. Graduate Programme in French. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references. Also available on the Internet. MODE OF ACCESS via web browser by entering the following URL:http://wwwlib.umi.com/cr/yorku/fullcit?pMQ27348.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-12-08T16:18:51Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 113558.pdf: 574737 bytes, checksum: 515c2b0f66a9c377b61049e4fa8331d2 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013-07-30 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / The goal of this research has been to encircle the term literarture with a number of possible definitions. The idea was less to coin a new term than to apply in writing what I perceived to surface already in various texts cited in this research in order to produce the literartistic piece Site Specific, a Romance. Its production consisted of delving into pieces I believe to be examples of literarture, and from the cross-referential dialogue established between them within the textual tissue of Site Specific, a Romance, I trust to have insinuated a definition to the term. Site Specific, a Romance is a text that fuses art praxis and academic dissertation in one single body. Always suspicious that the act of defining is foreign to any practice in the field of art especially to an artist the will of defining literarture was nevertheless satisfied in producing a text where I could experiment with it: it is my belief that every work of art (re) defines in itself the genre(s) to which it belongs. As such, Site Specific, a Romance is my experimentation and the only possible means I have to express what I think to be, or feel to be, literarture. / O objetivo desta pesquisa de mestrado foi cercar de possíveis definições o termo ¿literartura¿ - um termo que, mais que querer cunhar, percebo na leitura de vários textos citados na pesquisa - e, a partir dele, produzir a obra literartística Site Specific, um Romance. Para isso, foram pesquisadas obras que creio serem exemplos de literartura e, através desses exemplos, penso ter se insinuado uma definição. Estas obras formam um diálogo entrecruzado no próprio tecido textual de Site Specific, um Romance, texto que funde obra prática e dissertação de mestrado num só corpo. Sempre desconfiando de que definir seja estranho a qualquer prática no campo da arte, sobretudo para um artista, esta vontade de definir o termo ¿literartura¿ me foi satisfeita ao produzir um texto onde pude experimentá-la: é minha crença de que cada obra (re) define em si o(s) gênero(s) a que pertence. Assim, Site Specific, um Romance é minha experimentação e meu único modo possível de expressar o que penso, e sinto, ser literartura.

Boris Akunin’s historical detective novels have sold more than eight million copies in Russia, and have been translated into nearly a dozen languages. Boris Akunin is the pen name of literary critic and translator Grigory Chkhartishvili. Born in 1956 in the republic of Georgia, he published his first detective stories in 1998. His first series of novels, beginning with Azazel’ and followed by Turetskii gambit, feature a dashing young police inspector, Erast Fandorin. Fandorin’s adventures take place in the Russian Empire of the late nineteenth century, and he regularly finds himself at the center of key historic events. The first book takes place over one summer, May to September 1876, as the intrepid Fandorin, on his first case, unveils an international organization of conspirators—Azazel’—bent on changing the course of world events. The second takes place two years later from July 1877 to March 1878 during Russia’s war with the Ottoman Empire. The young detective again clashes with Azazel’, as he unravels a Turkish agent’s intricate plan to weaken and destroy the Russian state. Both adventures have proven wildly popular and entertaining, while maintaining a certain literary value. The exploration of time and space in Russian literature was once a popular subject of discourse, but since the 1970s it has been somewhat ignored, rarely applied to contemporary works, and even less to works of popular culture. Akunin’s treatment of time and space, however, especially given the historical setting of his works, is unique. Azazel’, for example, maintains a lightning pace with a tight chronology and a rapidly changing series of locales. Turetskii gambit presents a more laconic pace, and, though set in the vast Caucasus region, seems more claustrophobic as it methodically works towards its conclusion. Both works employ a seemingly impersonal narrator, who, nonetheless, speaks in a distinctly 19th century tone, and both works cast their adventures within the framework of actual historical events and locations. This thesis analyzes core theories in literary time and space, applying them then to Akunin’s historical detective literature.

Boris Akunin’s historical detective novels have sold more than eight million copies in Russia, and have been translated into nearly a dozen languages. Boris Akunin is the pen name of literary critic and translator Grigory Chkhartishvili. Born in 1956 in the republic of Georgia, he published his first detective stories in 1998. His first series of novels, beginning with Azazel’ and followed by Turetskii gambit, feature a dashing young police inspector, Erast Fandorin. Fandorin’s adventures take place in the Russian Empire of the late nineteenth century, and he regularly finds himself at the center of key historic events. The first book takes place over one summer, May to September 1876, as the intrepid Fandorin, on his first case, unveils an international organization of conspirators—Azazel’—bent on changing the course of world events. The second takes place two years later from July 1877 to March 1878 during Russia’s war with the Ottoman Empire. The young detective again clashes with Azazel’, as he unravels a Turkish agent’s intricate plan to weaken and destroy the Russian state. Both adventures have proven wildly popular and entertaining, while maintaining a certain literary value. The exploration of time and space in Russian literature was once a popular subject of discourse, but since the 1970s it has been somewhat ignored, rarely applied to contemporary works, and even less to works of popular culture. Akunin’s treatment of time and space, however, especially given the historical setting of his works, is unique. Azazel’, for example, maintains a lightning pace with a tight chronology and a rapidly changing series of locales. Turetskii gambit presents a more laconic pace, and, though set in the vast Caucasus region, seems more claustrophobic as it methodically works towards its conclusion. Both works employ a seemingly impersonal narrator, who, nonetheless, speaks in a distinctly 19th century tone, and both works cast their adventures within the framework of actual historical events and locations. This thesis analyzes core theories in literary time and space, applying them then to Akunin’s historical detective literature.