L’intertextualité devrait permettre d’appréhender l’œuvre sarrautienne dans ses contradictions structurelles, réflexivement représentées, dans son évolution problématique, dans sa spécificité littéraire. Une première partie, analytique, met en évidence le régime moderne de l’emprunt, à travers l’étude de deux Nouveaux Romans emblématiques (Portrait d’un inconnu, Le planétarium), tandis que s’amorcent, avec « disent les imbéciles » et Ich sterbe, un tournant autobiographique et une restauration de la directivité auctoriale, caractéristiques des derniers opus. Une seconde partie, synthétique, retrace le contexte culturel de l’emploi figuré du mot tropismes ; s’efforce de répondre à l’objection qui oppose la composition d’Enfance à la discontinuité fragmentaire des autres livres ; propose d’identifier, dans la « sous-conversation », la réécriture d’une forme de dialogue commenté que Proust, héritier de Balzac, a perfectionnée, mais qui devient, chez Sarraute, le lieu d’une déconstruction littéraire du soupçon moderne, où son œuvre peut trouver sa cohérence thématique et stylistique comme sa pertinence historique en se mesurant à un paradigme majeur du XXème siècle. Enfin, un Répertoire des allusions est joint en Appendice pour illustrer la densité de l’intertexte sarrautien, de Tropismes à Ouvrez. – Manifestant la radicalité d’une recherche expérimentale, d’un « tâtonnement aveugle dans le langage », l’intertextualité offre un point de vue critique sur l’œuvre sarrautienne, permettant de saisir comment le projet littéraire, à la fois psychologique et poétique, d’un auteur se réfléchit et s’épuise dans les tensions souvent extrêmes de ses textes indécidables, à l’inapparente opacité, attendant de l’avenir d’imprévisibles métamorphoses. / Is Intertextuality a permanent (even a structural) component of the Nathalie Sarraute’s writing? To maintain this critical position, we should first scrutinize how the intertextuality system, especially in Portrait of a Man Unknown and in The planetarium, is strongly perturbing the narrative conventions and promoting a reflexive approach of the text; while Fools say and Ich sterbe show an autobiographical evolution and a restoration of the author’s directivity; then some examples from a missing Index of References based upon the whole of the Sarrautean oeuvre should confirm the extent of intertextuality; in a second section, we should relativize the originality of the sarrautean tropisms by studying how the traditional forms of dialog or fragment are renewed by such a rhetorical “estrangement”. So, with the question of intertextuality, we could realize how a literary project become distorted by the practice of writing, since the Sarraute’s post-romantic conceptions heavily contrast with the modernist features of her works, which is a deciding factor of their aporetic ambiguity.

In this thesis, we examine theories of reading as they apply to three examples of the French New Novel. We begin with a detailed theoretical expose in which we compare and attempt to reconcile the reading models of Umberto Eco, Wolfgang Iser, Stanley Fish, Bertrand Gervais and Richard Saint-Gelais. The hybrid theory thus obtained is then tested on three works in order to underscore the modalities of reading that are particular to the New Novel, while insisting on these modalities' inherent variability. We focus on the reader's reconstructing of the narrative in L'Emploi du temps , on the impossibility of structuring the plot in La Maison de rendez-vous, and on the paradigmatic mode of reading La Bataille de Pharsale. In so doing, we hope to demonstrate how an analysis of the reading process allows for a heightened appreciation of the essential indeterminacy of the New Novel, of its fundamental otherness. We conclude with tentative remarks on the heuristic function of these texts.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--UCLA, 2009. / Vita. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 204-209).

No description available.

M.A. / This study started off as a search for the factors that turn the French New Novel into unreadable, unenjoyable, difficult literature. The most obvious keyword that sprang to mind was “doubt”. This was the effect that we as a reader felt when reading the novels mentioned above. There is doubt in two areas: Firstly we doubt our own ability to comprehend, being fully aware that the French New Novel is enjoyed primarily by academics. Secondly we doubt the novelists’ ability to produce what we would call a conventional novel like those developed by novelists such as Balzac, Flaubert, Stendhal and Zola in the 19th century. The search for “doubt” in the New Novel was very fruitful. Although some critics are of the opinion that the novels of Robbe-Grillet are to a certain extent understandable, they all agree that the novels of both Sarraute and Robbe-Grillet are in essence difficult to read and inadequately develop the four basic ingredients of the conventional novel, which are: character, plot, setting and time. These four elements should, in the case of a realistic novel, reflect the reader’s reality in order to create the illusion of being real. Our study has shown that Robbe-Grillet’s development of character and description of setting do not convince the reader that they could be real. They are in fact so inadequate and incoherent that the reader struggles to reconstruct a realistic character from the bits of information provided. Robbe-Grillet further breaks all conventional rules of time and space and leaves the reader disoriented. Sarraute appears to have abandoned convention totally as she has completely done away with character and setting in her novel Ici. It requires a great effort from the reader to reconstruct the fleeting abstract conversations that make up her novel. Both Sarraute and Robbe-Grillet have provided works of criticism on their own ideas of the novel in which they clearly state that they broke away deliberately from the form and content of the 19th century novel in a quest for a new authentic novel. This study was further able to point out certain mechanisms that the authors use to create instability in their novels. The many incoherent pieces that make up these novels allow the reader to play at reassembling them and often this leads to interesting new discoveries. One of these discoveries is the simultaneous presence of two or three levels of text. Where the surface text normally contains the story line, here the surface is broken, allowing the reader to penetrate into a second level of text. Here we find the metatext where the text comments on itself. We show that the metatext in both these novels often talks about doubt and about the incoherent nature of their own text. We may thus also say that “doubt” is an important leitmotiv in these novels. We might say that the only real characters in Robbe-Grillet’s and Sarraute’s novels are the reader and the author between whom there is an active interplay, although it is a delayed interplay. The novel becomes a game much like a board game – an interactive playing field that differs with every reading. This is especially true for Sarraute whose reactions to the reader’s initial reactions to the text have been pre-programmed into the novel. The real setting is then this abstract intellectual playing field. However, the reader never reaches the point where he can say that he has successfully unlocked the mysteries of these novels. Any interpretation remains partial and is surrounded by doubt.

L’objet de cette recherche est de revisiter la notion d’intrigue dans le Nouveau Roman après une campagne de dénigrement théorique menée par certains nouveaux romanciers. Une reconsidération qui s’inspire essentiellement des travaux de Paul Ricoeur sur « La Mise en intrigue » et qui se fonde principalement sur les études récentes de Raphaël Baroni sur « la tension narrative ». Dans la première partie il s’agit de remettre en perspective littéraire et critique cette notion en la confrontant au roman dit « traditionnel » et en parcourant les travaux nombreux des écrivains, critiques et théoriciens qui ont abordé cette question.La deuxième partie est concrètement une mise en chantier où sont éprouvées les idées de fiction, de passion, de suspense et de tension.Enfin la dernière partie est une sorte de reprise d’un modèle précis d’intrigue qui est celui du roman policier dans la perspective de mettre en évidence son aspect passionnant et passionnel. / The object of this research is to revisit the notion of “intrigue” in the new novel after a campaign of theoretical belittlement led by certain new novelists. A reconsideration which is essentially inspired by Paul Ricoeur’s works on “ the stake in intrigue” and which is based mainly on the recent studies of Raphaël Baroni on the narrative tension.In the first part it is question of handling in literary and critical perspective this notion by confronting it with the so-called “traditional” novel and by examining the numerous works of the writers, the critics and the theorists who approached this question.The second part is concretely and deeply analysed where the ideas of fiction, passion, suspense and tension are studied. Finally the last part is a kind of resumption of precise model of “intrigue” which is the one of the detective novel in the perspective to bring to light its fascinating and passionate aspect.

Thesis (M.A.)--Sonoma State University, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 107-111).

Les critiques littéraires estiment qu’il existe une certaine relation entre Robbe-Grillet et Echenoz, entre le Nouveau Roman et les jeunes écrivains de chez Minuit. Mais jusqu’à nos jours, il n’existe pas encore de recherches systématiques sur leur filiation dans les aspects divergents et convergents, notamment sur les différences et les ressemblances dans le récit. Dans cette étude, en interprétant l’obscurité du miroir non seulement comme fragmentation en multiples reflets mais aussi comme inversion du vide, nous apercevons que chez les deux écrivains, le sujet unit vainement en lui le même et l’autre en raison d’une crise identitaire. À travers un ailleurs en antithèse de l’ici, les auteurs dressent une typologie spatiale dominée par le vide et l’ouverture. Concernant la structure narrative, il existe aussi des voies différentes de reflets du miroir au sein du texte et entre les textes. D’ailleurs, les deux écrivains produisent par eux-mêmes des images spéculaires, qui se superposent et s’excluent, lorsque nous les envisageons au reflet du discours critique, ou dans le miroir de leur groupe respectif. / The literary critics have found the relation between Robbe-Grillet and Echenoz and that between New Novel and young writers at Midnight. However, in terms of their filiation, there is no systematic research related to the convergent and divergent aspects so far, especially the differences and similarities in the narration. By interpreting the obscurity of the mirror as the fragmentation of multiple reflections and the inversion of the vacancy as well, this dissertation finds that the subject in their writings incorporates both the self and the other to itself in vain because of the identity crisis. Based on the antithesis between here and there, both authors provide a typology space dominated by vacancy and openness. Regarding the narrative structure, there are different ways to mirror reflections within a text and between the texts. Moreover, from the perspective of the critical discourses, or in the mirror of their respective groups, both writers form some overlapped and inter-excluded specular images.

Le monde de la tour et de la ville de Babel représente dans sa lecture moderne l’univers monolithique de ceux qui parlent la même langue. L’altérité n’y a pas sa place. Quand le monde ordonné bascule dans la confusion et la folie, les babéliens se dispersent et les différences s’installent. La prise en compte par le « chercheur de tropismes » des liens entre même et autre, l’évaluation de la juste distance entre intégration au sein d’une communauté et solitude informe la dynamique de la création sarrautienne. L’hypersensible, figure de l’autre, expérimente toutes les formes de rejet et toutes les tentatives d’assimilation. La régression vers le monde indéterminé des origines où les rumeurs du monde ne l’atteignent pas, permettent au « chercheur de tropismes » de se faire pleinement créateur. La figure du créateur se décline dans les figures symétriques de l’enfant, du fou et du pauvre. L’humilité seule permet au créateur de percevoir la matière ténue de la création. La recherche explore les différentes modalités qui permettent la saisie de la multiplicité à travers notamment les différentes métamorphoses du monde qui bascule dans l’irréel et à travers les manifestations de la folie. L’œuvre explore la question essentielle de la résistance à l’oppression portée par les discours d’autorité. Cette recherche permet ainsi également de resituer la création sarrautienne dans un discours qui prend en compte, même de manière indirecte par le biais de l’imaginaire, la vie et les problèmes de la cité réelle. / In its modern reading, the world of the tower and city of Babel represents the monolithic world of those who speak the same language. The Otherness has no place within its boundaries. When the order of the world is thrown into confusion and madness, the babelians disperse and differences arise. The way the 'researcher of tropisms' takes into account the links between self and other, and considers the right distance between integration within a community and loneliness, helps to shape the sarrautian dynamics of creation. The hypersensitive character represents the other. He experiments all the forms of rejection and all the attempts at assimilation. Regression to the undetermined world of origins, the place where the whispers of the world are not heard, allows the 'researcher of tropisms' to be fully creative. The figure of the creator is symmetrical to the figure of the child, the madman and the poorman. Only humility allows the creator to collect the tenuous material of creation. The study explores the various ways that enable to capture the multiplicity especially through the various metamorphoses of the world when it falls into unreality and into madness. The work explores the fundamental question of resistance to oppression carried by the authoritative discourse. This research also allows to resituate the sarrautian creation in a speech that takes into account the life and problems of the real city, even indirectly through the imaginary.

This dissertation re-evaluates the place of José Donoso in the Latin American Boom as well as the consequences of this period in the writing process of his most renowned novel, The Obscene Bird of Night (1970). Its focal points are under-utilized archival material related to the novel's writing process, including Donoso's notebooks, typescripts and his personal correspondence. Spotlighting the transformation of specific episodes of the novel and the traces of the Boom through his notebooks, I argue that the published version of this work is in great part the result of Donoso's relationships with the writers of the Boom and the "nueva novela". The borderline position that Donoso occupies in the Boom (sometimes included, sometimes not) can best be explained by the late publication of this crucial novel, since Donoso's correspondence reveals that he was an important agent in the machinery behind the Boom.