This thesis argues that the concepts of curiosity and the marvellous resurface at different moments in cultural history, most notably in periods of transition and epistemological uncertainty. The sixteenth- and seventeenth-century ‘culture of curiosity,’ which is characterised by the amateur collector’s engagement with rare and boundary-crossing objects in the process of assembling a cabinet of curiosities, presents a rich contextual foil against which to place the practice of the Surrealists and of some contemporary artists and curators; it has profound resonances for the relationship between modernism and postmodernism, and between art and science. Within modernism, the Surrealists initiated a large-scale, fundamental probing of the principles underlying rationalist thought, and of the categories and hierarchies of academic art and bourgeois taste, which had dominated Western culture since the Enlightenment; and within postmodernism, artists and curators who revert to practices of collecting and appropriate protocols of the natural sciences question institutional frameworks of knowledge production, identity formation and meaning making through material artefacts. In both instances, curiosity and the marvellous – and the related themes of classification and dilettantism – have emerged as especially effective and resonant means of reading dominant culture against the grain. More specifically, this thesis contends that the Surrealist marvellous is rooted in the early modern discourse of the marvellous and monstrous which was characterised by ‘paradoxes of classification.’ This is particularly evident in the Surrealists’ engagement with objects testifying to the natural marvellous and the natural fantastic: stones, coral and insects, among other things and creatures, carry distinctly subversive implications of obscuration, entanglement and excess, metamorphosis and mimicry, and deviation and transgression, straddling the boundaries between art and nature, and art and representation. Furthermore, contemporary artistic and curatorial practice drawing on the ‘age of the marvellous’ – which, in this perspective, extends to Surrealism, with the potential to recur at any time thereafter – is primarily concerned with overcoming ‘white cube’ and Beaux-Arts-Museum historicity, aesthetics and display rationales by reintroducing subjectivity, doubt and digression into the context of the museum and the sciences. In this regard, scepticism towards intellectual certainties and accomplished systems of classification leads to an informed recourse to moments in history when the meanings of objects were being constantly negotiated rather than set in stone.

Si pour les ethnographes les mythes sont essentiels à la survie de toute société, cela pose problème quand on considère la Caraïbe et la rupture de l’esclavage. Une étude de la littérature antillaise réaliste merveilleuse nous montre que si les romans sont imprégnés par la spiritualité et le folklore, nous n’y trouvons aucun mythe des origines. Comment une société peut-elle subsister sans ces éléments fondamentaux ? Combinant une approche mythocritique à une mythanalyse des oeuvres d’auteurs antillais contemporains, nous émettons cette hypothèse : en s’inspirant de multiples héritages, ils se constituent une identité par la reconstruction de mythes spécifiquement antillais. Vu l’absence de romans antillais contemporains dans les études du magical realism et du réalisme merveilleux, notre première partie explore ce dernier concept pour en proposer une nouvelle catégorisation : le réalisme mystique. Notre deuxième partie examine les principes narratifs des romans en se demandant comment les auteurs parviennent à concilier un double héritage oralité/écriture et à sauvegarder leur identité. Notre dernière partie illustre enfin comment, par l’utilisation de schémas mythique spécifiques et un recentrement sur l’île natale, les textes mettent en place sa (re)mythisation.Cette étude permet la mise à jour de nouveaux paradigmes dans la littérature antillaise contemporaine. Elle montre comment le réalisme mystique est une modalité rattachée au magical realism qui, combinant réalisme historico ethnographique et folklore local, s’applique spécifiquement à la région des Antilles. Dépassant l’impossibilité théorique de transition de l’oralité vers l’écriture, nous révélons aussi que l’utilisation de l’ « oraliture » par les écrivains et le rôle de « guerriers de l’imaginaire » associé à certains d’entre eux propose une harmonisation oralité/écriture de même qu’une sauvegarde identitaire. Enfin, nous voyons qu’un certain nombre de romans réalistes mystiques proposent, outre une mise à distance de l’Afrique et de la France, un nouveau mythe originel centré sur la traversée de l’océan et un passage matriciel par la cale des négriers. Nous voyons également comment, loin de territoires d’acculturation comme les plantations, les auteurs développent une restructuration mythique de l’espace, notamment par une mise en valeur de la nature primordiale devenue propice à une renaissance identitaire.

Si pour les ethnographes les mythes sont essentiels à la survie de toute société, cela pose problème quand on considère la Caraïbe et la rupture de l’esclavage. Une étude de la littérature antillaise réaliste merveilleuse nous montre que si les romans sont imprégnés par la spiritualité et le folklore, nous n’y trouvons aucun mythe des origines. Comment une société peut-elle subsister sans ces éléments fondamentaux ? Combinant une approche mythocritique à une mythanalyse des oeuvres d’auteurs antillais contemporains, nous émettons cette hypothèse : en s’inspirant de multiples héritages, ils se constituent une identité par la reconstruction de mythes spécifiquement antillais. Vu l’absence de romans antillais contemporains dans les études du magical realism et du réalisme merveilleux, notre première partie explore ce dernier concept pour en proposer une nouvelle catégorisation : le réalisme mystique. Notre deuxième partie examine les principes narratifs des romans en se demandant comment les auteurs parviennent à concilier un double héritage oralité/écriture et à sauvegarder leur identité. Notre dernière partie illustre enfin comment, par l’utilisation de schémas mythique spécifiques et un recentrement sur l’île natale, les textes mettent en place sa (re)mythisation.Cette étude permet la mise à jour de nouveaux paradigmes dans la littérature antillaise contemporaine. Elle montre comment le réalisme mystique est une modalité rattachée au magical realism qui, combinant réalisme historico ethnographique et folklore local, s’applique spécifiquement à la région des Antilles. Dépassant l’impossibilité théorique de transition de l’oralité vers l’écriture, nous révélons aussi que l’utilisation de l’ « oraliture » par les écrivains et le rôle de « guerriers de l’imaginaire » associé à certains d’entre eux propose une harmonisation oralité/écriture de même qu’une sauvegarde identitaire. Enfin, nous voyons qu’un certain nombre de romans réalistes mystiques proposent, outre une mise à distance de l’Afrique et de la France, un nouveau mythe originel centré sur la traversée de l’océan et un passage matriciel par la cale des négriers. Nous voyons également comment, loin de territoires d’acculturation comme les plantations, les auteurs développent une restructuration mythique de l’espace, notamment par une mise en valeur de la nature primordiale devenue propice à une renaissance identitaire.

SUMÁRIO Esta dissertação busca demonstrar a presença do fantástico e do maravilhoso na narrativa de Mia Couto. Para tal, apresenta-se uma discussão teórica acerca desses dois géneros, retomando-se o que de mais importante se tem escrito sobre o assunto. A seguir, procede-se à análise do fantástico e do maravilhoso na narrativa de Mia Couto, recorrendo a exemplos dos seus contos e romances. Esta análise inclui uma definição de cada um destes géneros, adequada à especificidade da obra do escritor; um estudo dos temas fantásticos e maravilhosos mais frequentes; e, por fim, uma caracterização dos discursos fantástico e maravilhoso. SUMMARY This dissertation aims to demonstrate the presence of the fantastic and the marvellous in Mia Couto's narrative. In order to achieve these objectives, the first step is to contextualize these two genres, making a brief reflexion about the most important theories on this subject. After this theoretical chapter, this thesis analyses the fantastic and the marvellous in Mia Couto's work by giving examples from his short stories and novels. This chapter also includes a definition of each genre, specifically adapted to the writer's narrative; a study of most frequent fantastic and marvellous themes; and, finally, a description of fantastic and marvellous discursive features. / CLASSICS & WORLD LANGUAGES / MA(ROM LANG)- SPEC PORTUGUES

SUMÁRIO Esta dissertação busca demonstrar a presença do fantástico e do maravilhoso na narrativa de Mia Couto. Para tal, apresenta-se uma discussão teórica acerca desses dois géneros, retomando-se o que de mais importante se tem escrito sobre o assunto. A seguir, procede-se à análise do fantástico e do maravilhoso na narrativa de Mia Couto, recorrendo a exemplos dos seus contos e romances. Esta análise inclui uma definição de cada um destes géneros, adequada à especificidade da obra do escritor; um estudo dos temas fantásticos e maravilhosos mais frequentes; e, por fim, uma caracterização dos discursos fantástico e maravilhoso. SUMMARY This dissertation aims to demonstrate the presence of the fantastic and the marvellous in Mia Couto's narrative. In order to achieve these objectives, the first step is to contextualize these two genres, making a brief reflexion about the most important theories on this subject. After this theoretical chapter, this thesis analyses the fantastic and the marvellous in Mia Couto's work by giving examples from his short stories and novels. This chapter also includes a definition of each genre, specifically adapted to the writer's narrative; a study of most frequent fantastic and marvellous themes; and, finally, a description of fantastic and marvellous discursive features. / CLASSICS and WORLD LANGUAGES / MA(ROM LANG)- SPEC PORTUGUES

Elaboré dans les premières décennies du XIIe siècle, le tympan central du portail de la nef de Vézelay est l’un des témoins privilégiés du renouveau iconographique que connaît l’art roman entre la fin du XIe et le début du XIIe siècle. Maintes fois étudiée, son iconographie demeure pourtant énigmatique par la rareté de son thème – la Pentecôte – et plus encore ses scènes périphériques, portant l’image des peuples de la terre. C’est à ce motif, dans sa relation au contexte qui l’environne, que cette étude est dédiée. Le premier chapitre envisage les circonstances historiques, intellectuelles et monumentales qui ont vues l’élaboration d’un tel programme, lequel se révèle fortement ancré dans le renouveau que connaît la communauté au XIe siècle. Le second chapitre, consacré à l’iconographie tympanale, en livre l’étude matérielle et descriptive avant de la replacer au sein de la tradition iconographique de la Pentecôte. Une analyse qui démontre combien le tympan, nonobstant sa rareté, se conforme aux principes de cette tradition. Le dernier chapitre, enfin, aborde le motif des peuples de la terre. Il en livre tout d’abord une définition affinée par l’analyse générale de ses formes et traditions iconographiques, littéraires et conceptuelles depuis l’antiquité. Révélant une prédilection pour le champ ornemental et divertissant au Moyen Âge, le motif accède, au tympan, à une valeur symbolique et sémantique rare propre au cadre religieux au sein duquel il prend place. Objet de curiosité et image d’altérité, il fonctionne ici tel un point d’entrée pour le fidèle, autant qu’il unifie l’iconographie tympanale et renforce les notions inhérentes au thème de la Pentecôte / Designed in the early decades of the twelfth century, the central tympanum of the the nave portal of Vezelay is one of the privileged witnesses of the iconographic revival of Romanesque art between the late eleventh and early twelfth century. Repeatedly studied, its iconography yet remains enigmatic by the rarity of its theme – the Pentecost – and more, by its peripheral scènes, bearing the image of the peoples of the earth. It is to this pattern, in its relation to its surrouding context, that this study is dedicated. The first chapter considers the historicals, intellectuals and monumentals circumstances that have witnessed the development of such a program, which reveals deep roots in the revival the community knew in the eleventh century. The second chapter, devoted to the tympanum’s iconography, perfoms its descriptive and material study before replacing it in the iconographic tradition of Pentecost. An analysis which demonstrates how the tympanum, despite its rarity, is consistent with the principles of this tradition. Finally, the last chapter discusses the pattern of the peoples of the earth. It first delivers a refined definition through the general analysis of its iconographics, literaries and conceptuals forms and traditions since antiquity. Revealing a predilection for the decorative and entertaining fields in the Middle Ages, the tympanum’s pattern accesses a rare symbolic and semantic value peculiar to the religious framework within which it takes place. Object of curiosity and image of otherness, it works here as an entry point for the worshippers, as well as it unifies the tympanum’s iconography and strengthens inherents concepts to the theme of Pentecost.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-03-15T19:46:57Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Judith Tonioli Arantes.pdf: 699434 bytes, checksum: ede51912fb79ad1ff983cdb6ff86663d (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010-06-02 / Universidade Presbiteriana Mackenzie / Being part of the human imaginary, the vampires found their way into literature in the end of the eighteenth century, and remained there throughout the nineteenth century, being the climax of the narratives they were present known as Dracula, written by Bram Stoker. Over the twentieth century, the vampires experienced moments of fame in literature, through works such as Anne Rice s The vampire Chronicles; in the movies, through makings and remakings of Bram Stoker s Dracula and other vampires from TV series, such as Blade , and the movie made based on Anne Rice s Interview with the vampire. In the beginning of the twenty-first century, a North American author wrote a series of four books, the Twilight series, which constitute a dialogue with the literary myth crystallized by Bram Stoker s Dracula. Such dialogue, though considered to be intentionally denying the previous literary myth, confirms it in a number of ways. In order to study the presence of the literary myth in Stephenie Meyer s works, it is first necessary to study the possible origins of the myth in the human imaginary, moving, then, to a study of the types of narratives in which the vampires are present in literature, such as the fantastic, a mode found in fantasy, a literary gender. Once the possible origins and types of narrative are studied, it is possible to analyze the vampire myth renewed presented by Stephenie Meyer and the relation between her work, the Twilight series, and the fairy stories. / Presentes no imaginário humano há séculos, os vampiros encontraram seu caminho para a literatura no final do século XVIII e ali permaneceram durante todo o século XIX, culminando na obra que consolidou o mito literário do vampiro em Drácula, escrito por Bram Stoker. No decorrer do século XX, os vampiros viveram momentos de fama na literatura, por meio de obras como The Vampire Chronicles, de Anne Rice, no cinema, por meio de filmagens e refilmagens de Drácula e de outros vampiros de seriados, como Blade , por exemplo, além do filme baseado na obra Interview with the vampire, de Anne Rice. No início do século XXI, uma autora norte-americana publicou uma série composta por quatro livros, a série Twilight, que dialogam com o mito literário consolidado pela obra de Bram Stoker. Tal diálogo, embora pareça, em um primeiro momento, ter a intenção de renovar completamente o mito literário do vampiro, acaba, em diversos aspectos, confirmando este mito. Para estudar a presença do mito do vampiro literário na obra de Stephenie Meyer, é necessário fazer, em primeiro lugar, um estudo das possíveis origens do mito no imaginário humano, passando em seguida para os tipos de narrativa nos quais os vampiros aparecem na literatura, como o fantástico, por exemplo, que se insere no gênero fantasia. Uma vez que as possíveis origens do mito no imaginário humano e os tipos de narrativas literárias nas quais os vampiros são utilizados são tratados, é possível analisar a questão do mito renovado do vampiro apresentado por Stephenie Meyer e a relação entre a narrativa da série Twilight e as histórias de fadas.

La période allant de l’invention de Mélusine (c. 1390) à sa réinterprétation dans l’Alector (1560) peut être vue comme un « âge d’or de la féerie », qui s’étend hors de son domaine d’origine (le merveilleux) et fait émerger des figures neuves. Loin de disparaître de l’imaginaire des XVe et XVIe s., les fées en sont une composante essentielle. L’étude chronologiquement délimitée par ces repères et prolongée, pour certaines figures, jusqu’aux romans baroques (d’Urfé et Rosset c. 1612) dresse un tableau de la féerie au féminin. Organisée autour des quatre fées « cardinales », Morgane, Mélusine, Alcine et Urgande, nommées dans le programme des fêtes royales de Bayonne (1566), elle analyse leur évolution du point de vue de l’écriture et de sa réception. Elle cerne aussi des figures qui perdent leur identité féerique (Sibylle, Méridienne) et en recherche les causes. Tout en marquant des continuités et des parentés qui tiennent à des lignages « fictionnels » ou dynastiques, elle analyse des mutations (allégorisation, idéalisation) qui font valoir la richesse de la matière et son rôle dans l’évolution de l’imaginaire et des Lettres, de la fin du Moyen Âge à la Renaissance / From Melusine’s first appearance in literature (c. 1390) to its new treatment in the Alector (1560), the late Middle Ages and Renaissance period can be seen as the « golden age of faery », as it expands beyond its original field (the marvellous) and shapes up some new figures. Far from vanishing from the 15th and 16th centuries fiction, faery is a crucial part of it. Within these chronological boundaries and slightly beyond, as some figures are still mentioned in baroque novels (such as d’Urfé’s and Rosset’s c. 1612), this study makes a broad inquiry into feminine faery. Built up around the four « cardinal » faeries – Morgan, Melusine, Alcina and Urganda – still featuring in the royal feasts of Bayonne in 1566, it focuses on their evolution through writing and reading. It also points out Sibyl and Meridiana as figures who tend to lose their faery quality. While showing some continuity among faeries due to fictional kinship or dynastic lineage, it investigates the disruption caused by allegory and idealization, thus bringing into light a huge material and its decisive role in the shaping of imagination and literature, from the late medieval period to the Renaissance

My thesis considers wonder (meraviglia) as a path towards poetic knowledge as it appears in Dante’s Commedia and Ariosto’s Orlando furioso. In my textual analyses, I pursue manifestations of wonder as indicative of a specific moment of intellectual and philosophical inquiry that fills the gap between the dimension of the subject and that of the object, namely man and his world. Before embarking on close readings, in chapter one I disentangle the different components of wonder, tracing wonder’s earliest formulations back to Plato and Aristotle, and I re-define the fields of meraviglia’s neighbouring terms (stupore and ammirazione). My research aims to reassess the areas of wonder and of the marvellous, which literary critics have for too long confused, as active parts of the speculative discourses underlying both the Commedia and the Orlando furioso. As a result, in chapters two and three, I offer a picture of wonder which, in the Commedia, leads to experience of the divine dimension, bridging the human and the divine, but, in the Furioso, opens up a new interpretation of the earthly dimension, bridging the distances between men on earth and revealing the gnoseological bearing of its contradictions. This analysis demonstrates how differently the two authors relate to tradition: while Dante offers the first formulation of a redemptive Christian marvellous, linking pagan marvels to divine truth, Ariosto’s marvellous is to be seen as a climax to the liberation of wonder from medieval theological tenets, a process that gives birth to modern wonder. Through a diachronic and comparative investigation, I illuminate nuances of wonder that one could not discern by focussing on just one author or just one cultural period. The comparison between the two texts in light of wonder allows us to discover new paths within the poems, which show the connections between their marvellous features and their speculative drives.

From the eighth to the fourteenth century, places of wonder and dread appear in a wide variety of genres in Old and Middle English: epics, lays, romances, saints’ lives, travel narratives, marvel collections, visions of the afterlife. These places appear in narratives of the other world, a term which in Old and Middle English texts refers to the Christian afterlife: Hell, Purgatory, even Paradise can be fraught with wonder, danger, and the possibility of harm. But in addition to the other world, there are places that are not theologically separate from the human world, but that are nevertheless both marvellous and horrifying: the monster-mere in Beowulf, the Faerie kingdom of Sir Orfeo, the demon-ridden Vale Perilous in Mandeville’s Travels, or the fearful landscape of the Green Chapel in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Fraught with horror or the possibility of harm, these places are profoundly different from the presented or implied home world of the text. My dissertation investigates how Old and Middle English narratives create places of wonder and dread; how they situate these places metaphysically between the world of living mortals and the world of the afterlife; how they furnish these places with dangerous topography and monstrous inhabitants, as well as with motifs, with tropes, and with thematic concerns that signal their marvellous and fearful nature. I argue that the heart of this poetics of marvellous spaces is displacement. Their wonder and dread comes from boundaries that these places blur and cross, from the resistance of these places to being known or mapped, and from the deliberate distancing between these places and the home of their texts. This overarching concern with displacement encourages the migration of iconographic motifs, tropes, and themes across genre boundaries and theological categories.