A partir del examen de su producción, desde sus comienzos en 1973 y hasta el año 2008, se propondrán los modos en que Cohen articula teóricamente los contactos interartísticos, los procedimientos con los que la música ingresa en su literatura y un itinerario narrativo/musical que comienza con su primer libro de cuentos, <i>Lo que queda</i> (1973), cobra fuerza y mayor expansión en 1984 con <i>El país de la dama eléctrica</i>, culmina en su novela <i>Impureza</i> (2007) y tiene su ápice en <i>El oído absoluto</i> de 1989. La crítica sobre el autor, si bien ha señalado —aunque excepcionalmente— la importancia de la música en algunas de sus novelas, no ha abordado el tema que aquí proponemos desde una perspectiva general que tenga en cuenta tanto las diversas instancias de la presencia musical en toda su obra narrativa, como las relaciones entre producción crítica y ficcional. Tampoco ha precisado los mecanismos y las motivaciones posibles de su inscripción.

Cette thèse étudie les notions de géographie imaginaire et de sociologie fantastique dans l’œuvre de Marcelo Cohen (Buenos Aires, 1951). Le corpus de travail comprend l’ensemble de la production de fiction narrative de l’auteur (contes, nouvelles et romans en une vingtaine d’ouvrages) entre son premier recueil de récits, Lo que queda (1972), et son roman Balada (2011). La thèse est organisée en trois parties : la première (« Marcelo Cohen et son œuvre. Perspectives théoriques et méthodologiques ») propose une présentation de l’auteur et de son œuvre et un bilan théorique et pratique des notions de géographie imaginaire et de sociologie fantastique ; la deuxième (« Écrire l’espace ») analyse la construction de l’espace dans le corpus choisi dans une double démarche chronologique et figurative ; la troisième (« Littérature et société ») se penche sur les manifestations des dimensions idéologiques, sociales et politiques, et sur les relations entre l’individu et la société dans les ouvrages de Marcelo Cohen. Le travail s’achève par une réflexion globale sur la poétique et l’esthétique de l’auteur argentin. / This thesis considers such concepts as fictional Geography and fantastic Sociology in Marcelo Cohen’s work (Buenos Aires, 1951).The body of this research includes all the narrative fiction by this author (some twenty tales, short stories and novels in total), between his first collection of stories, Lo que queda (1972), and his novel Balada (2011).Our thesis develops three domains : the first one (« Marcelo Cohen and his work, a theoretical and methodological outlook ») introduces the author and his work, along with a theoretical and practical evaluation of such concepts as fictional Geography and fantastic Sociology ; the second one (« Space in writing ») analyzes the make of space in the selected books, in a dual approach : both chronological and representational ; the last one (« Literature and society ») addresses the expressions of ideological, sociological and political dimensions, plus the relationship between a particular person and his/her society in Marcelo Cohen’s works. This research ends with a global consideration of poetry and estheticism in the work of our Argentinean author.

While current scholarship acknowledges the influence of Buddhist ideas on Julio Cortázar’s fiction, critical analysis of this element of his work does not often engage in depth with Buddhist thought. Buddhism is frequently characterised as something mystical or mythical when read in relation to the works of Cortázar. This approach leads to an insufficient reading of the highly important notion of the ‘centro’ in Rayuela (1963), whose symbolism, evoking a dynamic equilibrium, may be more successfully explored with closer reference to Buddhist philosophy. The Argentine author Marcelo Cohen has also engaged with Buddhist ideas in his works; his Buda (1990), a biography of the historical Buddha, testifies to this interest. Again, however, this aspect has not received full attention in critical scholarship. Given the importance of the use of negation in Cohen’s literature, comparing Cohen with Buddhist philosophy can enrich our understanding of many aspects of his works, such as his treatment of relationality. I have chosen to compare both Argentine authors with the Indian Buddhist philosopher Nāgārjuna, who is considered the founder of the Madhyamaka school, which is particularly associated with the theory of ‘emptiness’ (‘śūnyatā’). Nāgārjuna’s philosophy is cited directly in Cortázar’s poem ‘Canción de Gautama’ and Cohen’s Buda and informs a number of these writers’ other texts. The main body of the thesis is divided into three sections. These examine the triadic relation between time, identity and language, with each section focusing more on one of these three aspects in turn. The three chapters and three authors will be drawn together to form a new reading of the role of negation.