This thesis is a context-sensitive study of key epistemological commitments and concerns presented in Philo’s two series of exegetical writings. The major conclusion advanced in this thesis is that two theological epistemologies, distinct yet related, can be detected among these writings. The first epistemology is specific to the Allegorical Commentary. The second epistemology is specific to the ‘Exposition of the Law.’ The epistemology of the Allegorical Commentary reflects a threefold conviction: the sovereignty of God, the creaturely contingency of the human mind and its inescapable limitations. In conversation with key epistemological notions of his day, Philo develops this threefold conviction in exegetical discourses that are grounded in Pentateuchal texts portraying the God of Moses as both possessing epistemic authority and aiding the aspiring mind to gain purification and perfection in the knowledge of God. Guided by this threefold conviction, Philo enlists key metaphors of his day – initiation into divine mysteries and divine inspiration, among others –in order to capture something of the essence of Moses’ twofold way of ascending to the divine, an approach which requires at times the enhancement of human reason and at other times the eviction of human reason. The epistemology of the ‘Exposition’ reflects Philo’s understanding of the Pentateuch as a perfect whole partitioned into three distinct yet inseverable parts. Philo’s knowledge discourses in the ‘creation’ part of the ‘Exposition’ reflect two primary movements of thought. The first is heavily invested with a Platonic reading of Genesis 1.27 while the second invests Genesis 2.7 with a mixture of Platonic and Stoic notions of human transformation and well-being. Philo’s discourses in the ‘patriarchs’ segment reflect an interest in portraying the three great patriarchs as exemplars of the virtues of instruction (Abraham), nature (Isaac), and practice (Jacob) which featured prominently in Greek models of education. In the ‘Moses’ segment of the ‘Exposition,’ many of Philo’s discourses on knowledge are marked by an interest in presenting Moses as the ideal king, lawgiver, prophet and priest who surpasses Plato’s paradigm of the philosopher-king. In keeping with this view, Philo insists that the written laws of Moses represent the perfect counterpart to the unwritten law of nature. The life and laws of Moses serve as the paradigm for Philo to understand his own experiences of noetic ascent and exhort readers to cultivate similar aspirational notions and practices.

Thesis (MPhil (Modern Foreign Languages. Hypermedia for Language Learning))--University of Stellenbosch, 2010. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The ancient Roman poet Vergil’s great literary epic, the Aeneid, is written in Latin. This so-called “dead” language is already almost three thousand years old and had a rich history and extensive influence on the Western world. The most influential development of the modern era is the World Wide Web (WWW). Hypertext drives the Web. The translation of just one book of the Aeneid can be a protracted process for the Latin student. Usually a great deal of information must be consulted to translate just one line into idiomatic Afrikaans or English. Hypertext can manage, link and rapidly make available large amounts of information. A discussion of Aeneidos Electronicum (“The Electronic Aeneid”) – a web-based electronic text commentary of Book I of the epic – shows the effectiveness of hypertext as a medium to facilitate the translation of the Aeneid. Moreover an examination of the Web determines the extent and nature of Vergil’s presence on it. Finally a critical evaluation of five websites provides an overview of the available resources for the reader/researcher of the classical poet and his works on the Web. The Aeneidos Electronicum-project attempts to show how hypertext can be utilised to make the translation of the Aeneid expeditious and translation aid more accessible. The aim of the project is to support and expand Vergil’s place in the field of computer assisted language learning. The examination and evaluation of the classical poet’s presence on the Web wishes to confirm that his and his works’ enduring influence and impact not only exists on paper, but also in cyberspace. Chapter 2 deals with Latin and Vergil respectively. Chapter 3 discusses the theory of good hypertext and web design. Chapter 4 describes and explains the contents, structure, navigation and design of the Aeneidos Electronicum-project. Chapter 5 examines Vergil’s presence on the Web and critically evaluates five websites according to the principles of good web design. Aeneidos Electronicum utilises hypertext’s ability to manage and link large amounts of information to produce an electronic text commentary of Book I of Vergil’s Aeneid. It is web-based and follows the guidelines of good hypertext and web design to be a userfriendly and extremely functional electronic translation aid. Similar websites exist, but its object is to make Latin students’ experience of Vergil and his great epic easy, informative and enriching. Vergil’s presence on the Web is considerable and there is a wide variety of websites with information and interactivity for study of the classical poet and his works available to the student/teacher/researcher as well as the lay person. The random sample of five websites shows not only the application of good and less effective web design principles, but also the predominantly good quality and importance of the presentations. Thus Vergil and his works gain further ground in computer assisted language learning and he lives on in the 21st century with all the possibilities that the Web and hypertext can offer. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die antieke Romeinse digter Vergilius se grootse literêre epos, die Aeneïs, is in Latyn geskryf. Dié sogenaamde “dooie” taal is al ongeveer drieduisend jaar oud en het ’n ryke geskiedenis en omvattende invloed op die Westerse wêreld gehad. Die invloedrykste tegnologiese ontwikkeling van die moderne era is die Wêreldwye Web (WWW). Hiperteks dryf die Web. Die vertaling van net een boek van die Aeneïs kan ’n langdurige proses vir die Latyn-student wees. ’n Magdom inligting moet gewoonlik geraadpleeg word om net een reël in idiomatiese Afrikaans of Engels te vertaal. Hiperteks kan groot hoeveelhede inligting hanteer, verbind en vinnig beskikbaar stel. ’n Bespreking van Aeneidos Electronicum (“Die Elektroniese Aeneïs”) – ’n webgebaseerde elektroniese tekskommentaar van Boek I van die epos – toon die effektiwiteit van hiperteks as ’n medium om die vertaling van die Aeneïs te vergemaklik. Voorts bepaal ’n ondersoek van die Web die omvang en aard van Vergilius se teenwoordigheid daarop. Ten slotte bied ’n kritiese evaluering van vyf webwerwe ’n oorsig van die beskikbare hulpbronne vir die leser/navorser van die klassieke digter en sy werke op die Web. Die Aeneidos Electronicum-projek poog om te toon hoe hiperteks ingespan kan word om die vertaling van die Aeneïs te bespoedig en vertaalhulp meer toeganklik te maak. Die oogmerk van die projek is om Vergilius se plek in die rekenaarondersteunde taalonderrigveld te ondersteun en uit te brei. Die ondersoek en evaluasie van die klassieke digter se teenwoordigheid op die Web wil bevestig dat hy en sy werke se blywende invloed en trefkrag nie net op papier voortleef nie, maar ook in die kuberruim. Hoofstuk 2 behandel onderskeidelik Latyn en Vergilius. Hoofstuk 3 bespreek die teorie van goeie hiperteks en webontwerp. Hoofstuk 4 beskryf en verklaar die inhoud, struktuur, navigasie en ontwerp van die Aeneidos Electronicumprojek. Hoofstuk 5 ondersoek Vergilius se teenwoordigheid op die Web en evalueer krities vyf webwerwe volgens die beginsels van goeie webontwerp. Aeneidos Electronicum benut hiperteks se vermoë om groot hoeveelhede inligting te hanteer en te skakel om ’n elektroniese tekskommentaar van Boek I van Vergilius se Aeneïs teweeg te bring. Dit is webgebaseerd en volg die riglyne van goeie hiperteks en webontwerp om ’n gebruikersvriendelike en uiters funksionele elektroniese vertalingshulpmiddel te wees. Soortgelyke webwerwe bestaan, maar dit het ten doel om Latyn-studente se ervaring van Vergilius en sy grootse epos gemaklik, insiggewend en verrykend te maak. Vergilius se teenwoordigheid op die Web is aansienlik en daar is ’n wye verskeidenheid webwerwe met inligting en interaktiwiteit vir studie van die klassieke digter en sy werke vir die student/onderwyser/navorser asook die leek beskikbaar. Die steekproef van vyf webwerwe toon nie net die toepassing van goeie en minder doeltreffende webontwerpbeginsels nie, maar ook die oorwegend goeie gehalte en belangrikheid van die aanbiedinge. Dus wen Vergilius en sy werke nog verder veld in rekenaarondersteunde taalonderrig en leef hy in die 21ste eeu voort met al die moontlikhede wat die Web en hiperteks kan bied.

Toutes les illustrations qui ponctuent cette thèse ont été réalisées par Chantal Poirier. Elles ont été insérées dans le texte selon un ordre méticuleusement aléatoire. / Le texte qui suit, malgré son libellé onomastique (le nom « John Cage »), son orientation disciplinaire (la « théorie littéraire ») et sa visée thématique (« la révision du commentaire critique »), se place d’emblée dans une posture d’écriture et de création. Il consiste à proposer comme point de départ l’identité de la forme textuelle et de sa dérivation métatextuelle, en d’autres mots : de la voix citée et analysée avec l’autre voix citante et analysante. Cette prémisse dérive elle-même d’une confrontation locale : les spécificités et les idiosyncrasies de la textualité mise en place par John Cage à partir des années quarante (partitions littéraires des recueils Silence et A Year from Monday, mésostiches de M et X, réécritures et « writing through » d’Empty Words…). En effet, l’examen par la théorie littéraire d’un corpus aussi disséminé et « néologique » que l’est celui de John Cage pousse son rédacteur à poser la question de sa propre écriture (« autoréflexivité ») et à rendre possible une réalisation artistique personnelle (« performativité »). C’est donc à travers la contingence d’une langue et d’une subjectivité au travail que la théorisation (textuelle) du texte cherche ici à s’élucider et à s’écrire. Le travail commence par installer les modalités à la fois circulaires et circulatoires de la théorie littéraire, une tension rhétorique et épistémologique qu’il identifie sous le nom d’« aporie autoréflexive » (le texte théorique est concerné par la question de lui-même). Il s’efforce ensuite d’analyser la nouveauté de l’œuvre littéraire cagienne, en empruntant un schéma dialectique et antagoniste : d’un côté, une « textualité-objet », originale et orthographique, de l’autre, une « textualité-sujet », disséminante et intertextuelle, anarchique et jubilatoire. Enfin, le texte propose la révision, la recomposition, la « réécriture » du commentaire critique sur les bases nouvelles d’une textologie autoréflexive et performative — une indiscipline d’écriture qui utilise sciemment les coordonnées linguistiques de son élocution (néologie, typographisme, procédés citationnels…) et qui fait place sans camouflage ou refoulement à la personnalité intertextuelle, contextuelle, métissée du rédacteur. Par l’entremise d’une sorte d’« exemplarité textuelle » (Cage), ce travail insiste pour une synthèse à la fois productive et expressive des voix analysées et analysantes dans les études littéraires. On verra que, par moments, cette proposition implique que le texte se marginalise. / The following text, despite its onomastic labelling (the name “John Cage”), its disciplinary orientation (“literary theory”), and its thematic aim (“the revision of the literary commentary”), positions itself as a writing and creative venture. It starts by stating the strict identity of texts and metatexts, in other words, of the quoted, analyzed voice, with the quoting, analyzing other voice. This premise derives from a specific confrontation: the specificities and idiosyncrasies of John Cage’s literary production since the late 1940s (the literary scores from the anthologies Silence and A Year from Monday, the mesostics from M and X, the rewritings and “Writing through’s” from Empty Words…). Indeed, the examination by literary theory of a body of work as disseminated and “neological” as John Cage’s encourages the literary critic or theoretician to ask the question of his own writing (“self-reflexivity”) and also to make possible an original artistic realization (“performativity”). It is therefore through the possibilities of a language and of a subjectivity at work that the (textual) theorization of texts tries herein to elucidate and to write itself. This work starts by setting up the modalities both circular and circulatory of literary theory—a rhetorical and epistemological tension that will be identified as the “self-reflexive aporia” (the theoretical text is primarily concerned by the question of itself). It then tries to analyze the novelty of Cage’s literary work, using a dialectical and antagonistic configuration: on one hand, an “objective textuality”, original and orthographical; on the other hand, a “subjective textuality”, disseminating and intertextual, anarchic and unrestrained. Finally, this text proposes the revision, recomposition and “rewriting” of the critical commentary on the basis of a new self-reflexive and performative textology. That is: a sort of undiscipline in writing that knowingly manoeuvres the linguistic coordinates of its elocution (neology, typographism, quotation processes…) and that does not try to conceal or repress the intertextual, contextual, heterogenous and disparate personality of its author. Through a sort of “textual exemplarity” (Cage), this work insists on a synthesis both productive and expressive between the voices analyzing and the voices being analyzed. We will see accordingly that this proposition implies, from time to time, that the text be marginalized.

La chronique politique, qui se trouve au coeur de la question de l’influence de la presse sur l’opinion publique, rencontre un vide dans les écrits scientifiques, du moins au Québec. L’étude de la chronique est pourtant des plus pertinentes dans le contexte actuel où les plateformes Web viennent renforcer la présence de commentateurs de tous les sujets. À partir d’une analyse systématique de chroniques politiques parues entre 1991 et 2011, ainsi que d’entrevues semi-dirigées avec des chroniqueurs politiques chevronnés, la présente étude décrit ce genre jusqu’ici peu étudié. Ainsi, les caractéristiques tels le format et la disposition de la chronique sont d’une part mises en évidence, alors que la diversité de sujets traités par les chroniqueurs politiques, d’autre part, montre que le genre jouit d’une grande liberté et que les auteurs peuvent choisir à propos de quoi ils veulent écrire et la manière de le faire. La critique négative reste omniprésente dans les chroniques, mais dans une moins grande proportion que ce à quoi il aurait été possible de s’attendre, plusieurs étant plutôt neutres et de nature explicative. Finalement, les propos des chroniqueurs prouvent que cette fonction s’accompagne d’une reconnaissance et d’un certain vedettariat, autant parmi la population qu’auprès de leurs collègues. Le tout permet de distinguer la chronique de l’ensemble des autres genres et pratiques journalistiques. / The political column – which figures at the heart of the issue of the press’ influence of public opinion – is rarely studied in scholarly literature, especially in Quebec. Yet, the study of punditry is particularly relevant in the context where different Web platforms seem to strengthen the presence of commentaries of all flavours. This study aims to shed light on the recent evolution of political column by presenting a systematic content analysis of such articles published in Quebec newspapers from 1991 to 2011, combined with a series of semi-directed interviews with renowned political columnists. Emphasis is first put on several characteristics, such as formatting or layout of the articles, while the wide variety of issues addressed by political columnists show that the column genre enjoys real freedom as the authors themselves choose their topics and decide how to write about them. Moreover, the negative critique remains ubiquitous in political punditry, though in a smaller proportion that could be expected, as many authors are rather neutral and explanatory in their comments. Finally, the remarks of the interviewed columnists suggest that their status is accompanied by recognition and celebrity, as much from the readers as from their colleagues. The general conclusions lead us to better assess the distinctions between political columns and other journalistic genres.

Apresentamos neste trabalho a tradução da primeira parte do Commentarium in Hermogenis librum PerÈ st.sewn, de Siriano Filoxeno, o isocrático. Na introdução procuramos circunscrever o gênero do comentário retórico às estases de Hermógenes, como praticado por filósofos platônicos durante os séculos III a VI d.C. Comisso pretendemos discorrer sobre como a sofística e a retórica se dão no currículo próprio das chamadas escolas filosóficas, que se evidencia pelo gênero encomiástico das vidas. Nessa operação, procuramos evidenciar como os filósofos platônicos interessam-se pela retórica declamatória, reaproximando os problemas que dizem respeito à invenção daqueles que concernem ao logos e a apreensão (kat.lhyic). Por fim, relativizamos, a partir da leitura do Comentário de Siriano, as categorias modernas que separam os filósofos platônicos da segunda sofística. / Here we present a translation of the rst part of the CommentariuminHermogenis librum PerÈ st^sewn, written by Syrianus Philoxenus, the isocratic. In the introduction we seek to circumscribe the rhetorical comment to stasis theory of Hermogenes a special kind of introductory work, as practiced by Platonic philosophers over the third to the sixth century. erewith, we intend to talk about how sophistry and rhetoric could happen in an curriculum, concerning the so called philosophical schools presented in the encomiastic gender of lifes. In this operation, we show how the Platonic philosophers rea>rm your interest in the declamatory rhetoric, reconnecting the problems that concern the invention (eÕresic) of those logos and his apprehension (kat^lhyic). Finally, from reading the Syrianus Commentary, we hope to relativize the modern categories that separate the Platonic philosophers from the Second Sophistic.

Apresentamos neste trabalho a tradução da primeira parte do Commentarium in Hermogenis librum PerÈ st.sewn, de Siriano Filoxeno, o isocrático. Na introdução procuramos circunscrever o gênero do comentário retórico às estases de Hermógenes, como praticado por filósofos platônicos durante os séculos III a VI d.C. Comisso pretendemos discorrer sobre como a sofística e a retórica se dão no currículo próprio das chamadas escolas filosóficas, que se evidencia pelo gênero encomiástico das vidas. Nessa operação, procuramos evidenciar como os filósofos platônicos interessam-se pela retórica declamatória, reaproximando os problemas que dizem respeito à invenção daqueles que concernem ao logos e a apreensão (kat.lhyic). Por fim, relativizamos, a partir da leitura do Comentário de Siriano, as categorias modernas que separam os filósofos platônicos da segunda sofística. / Here we present a translation of the rst part of the CommentariuminHermogenis librum PerÈ st^sewn, written by Syrianus Philoxenus, the isocratic. In the introduction we seek to circumscribe the rhetorical comment to stasis theory of Hermogenes a special kind of introductory work, as practiced by Platonic philosophers over the third to the sixth century. erewith, we intend to talk about how sophistry and rhetoric could happen in an curriculum, concerning the so called philosophical schools presented in the encomiastic gender of lifes. In this operation, we show how the Platonic philosophers rea>rm your interest in the declamatory rhetoric, reconnecting the problems that concern the invention (eÕresic) of those logos and his apprehension (kat^lhyic). Finally, from reading the Syrianus Commentary, we hope to relativize the modern categories that separate the Platonic philosophers from the Second Sophistic.

Este trabalho tem como objetivo anotar, traduzir e comentar uma parte da obra da escritora norteamericana Elizabeth Bishop (1911-1979), que viveu no Brasil durante cerca de vinte anos: seus textos de caráter jornalístico relacionados ao país. O mais extenso é o livro Brazil (1962), escrito sob encomenda dos editores da revista Life. O livro foi renegado pela autora, inconformada com as intervenções dos editores, e publicado sob coautoria. O cotejo entre os originais (preservados nos arquivos de Bishop, no Vassar College), o texto publicado em 1962 e as anotações da autora em seu exemplar (preservado na Harvard University) permite apontar as similaridades e, especialmente, os importantes contrastes entre a perspectiva de Bishop e a dos editores. Uma investigação sobre o momento em que o livro surgiu na vida da autora e na história do Brasil e dos Estados Unidos auxilia a compreensão não só do texto, mas também de sua escrita e dos episódios associados à sua edição. O trabalho se completa com a tradução e a anotação de outros cinco textos, dois dos quais ainda inéditos mesmo em inglês, vestígios de um projeto abandonado por Bishop: a elaboração de um novo livro sobre o país. / The aim of this work is to annotate, translate, and comment a part of the writings by Elizabeth Bishop (1911-1979), the North-American writer, who lived in Brazil for approximately twenty years, focusing on her journalistic texts about that country. Her largest piece is a book called Brazil (1962) which was commissioned by the editors of Life magazine. However, the book was rejected by the author who refused to accept the interventions made by the editors. As a result, they co-authored it. Comparing the original (preserved in the Bishop archives at Vassar College) with the published text allows us to compare two different views of Brazil, to highlight similarities and especially the important contrasts between them. A research on the period the book was published focused on the author\'s life, as well as on the history of both Brazil and the U.S.A. helps to understand not only the text itself, but also how it was written and the episodes associated to its edition. The present work includes five additional texts, remains of a project that was abandoned by Bishop: the making of another book on Brazil. Two of these texts have remained unpublished to date, even in English.

La chronique politique, qui se trouve au coeur de la question de l’influence de la presse sur l’opinion publique, rencontre un vide dans les écrits scientifiques, du moins au Québec. L’étude de la chronique est pourtant des plus pertinentes dans le contexte actuel où les plateformes Web viennent renforcer la présence de commentateurs de tous les sujets. À partir d’une analyse systématique de chroniques politiques parues entre 1991 et 2011, ainsi que d’entrevues semi-dirigées avec des chroniqueurs politiques chevronnés, la présente étude décrit ce genre jusqu’ici peu étudié. Ainsi, les caractéristiques tels le format et la disposition de la chronique sont d’une part mises en évidence, alors que la diversité de sujets traités par les chroniqueurs politiques, d’autre part, montre que le genre jouit d’une grande liberté et que les auteurs peuvent choisir à propos de quoi ils veulent écrire et la manière de le faire. La critique négative reste omniprésente dans les chroniques, mais dans une moins grande proportion que ce à quoi il aurait été possible de s’attendre, plusieurs étant plutôt neutres et de nature explicative. Finalement, les propos des chroniqueurs prouvent que cette fonction s’accompagne d’une reconnaissance et d’un certain vedettariat, autant parmi la population qu’auprès de leurs collègues. Le tout permet de distinguer la chronique de l’ensemble des autres genres et pratiques journalistiques. / The political column – which figures at the heart of the issue of the press’ influence of public opinion – is rarely studied in scholarly literature, especially in Quebec. Yet, the study of punditry is particularly relevant in the context where different Web platforms seem to strengthen the presence of commentaries of all flavours. This study aims to shed light on the recent evolution of political column by presenting a systematic content analysis of such articles published in Quebec newspapers from 1991 to 2011, combined with a series of semi-directed interviews with renowned political columnists. Emphasis is first put on several characteristics, such as formatting or layout of the articles, while the wide variety of issues addressed by political columnists show that the column genre enjoys real freedom as the authors themselves choose their topics and decide how to write about them. Moreover, the negative critique remains ubiquitous in political punditry, though in a smaller proportion that could be expected, as many authors are rather neutral and explanatory in their comments. Finally, the remarks of the interviewed columnists suggest that their status is accompanied by recognition and celebrity, as much from the readers as from their colleagues. The general conclusions lead us to better assess the distinctions between political columns and other journalistic genres.

Le texte qui suit, malgré son libellé onomastique (le nom « John Cage »), son orientation disciplinaire (la « théorie littéraire ») et sa visée thématique (« la révision du commentaire critique »), se place d’emblée dans une posture d’écriture et de création. Il consiste à proposer comme point de départ l’identité de la forme textuelle et de sa dérivation métatextuelle, en d’autres mots : de la voix citée et analysée avec l’autre voix citante et analysante. Cette prémisse dérive elle-même d’une confrontation locale : les spécificités et les idiosyncrasies de la textualité mise en place par John Cage à partir des années quarante (partitions littéraires des recueils Silence et A Year from Monday, mésostiches de M et X, réécritures et « writing through » d’Empty Words…). En effet, l’examen par la théorie littéraire d’un corpus aussi disséminé et « néologique » que l’est celui de John Cage pousse son rédacteur à poser la question de sa propre écriture (« autoréflexivité ») et à rendre possible une réalisation artistique personnelle (« performativité »). C’est donc à travers la contingence d’une langue et d’une subjectivité au travail que la théorisation (textuelle) du texte cherche ici à s’élucider et à s’écrire. Le travail commence par installer les modalités à la fois circulaires et circulatoires de la théorie littéraire, une tension rhétorique et épistémologique qu’il identifie sous le nom d’« aporie autoréflexive » (le texte théorique est concerné par la question de lui-même). Il s’efforce ensuite d’analyser la nouveauté de l’œuvre littéraire cagienne, en empruntant un schéma dialectique et antagoniste : d’un côté, une « textualité-objet », originale et orthographique, de l’autre, une « textualité-sujet », disséminante et intertextuelle, anarchique et jubilatoire. Enfin, le texte propose la révision, la recomposition, la « réécriture » du commentaire critique sur les bases nouvelles d’une textologie autoréflexive et performative — une indiscipline d’écriture qui utilise sciemment les coordonnées linguistiques de son élocution (néologie, typographisme, procédés citationnels…) et qui fait place sans camouflage ou refoulement à la personnalité intertextuelle, contextuelle, métissée du rédacteur. Par l’entremise d’une sorte d’« exemplarité textuelle » (Cage), ce travail insiste pour une synthèse à la fois productive et expressive des voix analysées et analysantes dans les études littéraires. On verra que, par moments, cette proposition implique que le texte se marginalise. / The following text, despite its onomastic labelling (the name “John Cage”), its disciplinary orientation (“literary theory”), and its thematic aim (“the revision of the literary commentary”), positions itself as a writing and creative venture. It starts by stating the strict identity of texts and metatexts, in other words, of the quoted, analyzed voice, with the quoting, analyzing other voice. This premise derives from a specific confrontation: the specificities and idiosyncrasies of John Cage’s literary production since the late 1940s (the literary scores from the anthologies Silence and A Year from Monday, the mesostics from M and X, the rewritings and “Writing through’s” from Empty Words…). Indeed, the examination by literary theory of a body of work as disseminated and “neological” as John Cage’s encourages the literary critic or theoretician to ask the question of his own writing (“self-reflexivity”) and also to make possible an original artistic realization (“performativity”). It is therefore through the possibilities of a language and of a subjectivity at work that the (textual) theorization of texts tries herein to elucidate and to write itself. This work starts by setting up the modalities both circular and circulatory of literary theory—a rhetorical and epistemological tension that will be identified as the “self-reflexive aporia” (the theoretical text is primarily concerned by the question of itself). It then tries to analyze the novelty of Cage’s literary work, using a dialectical and antagonistic configuration: on one hand, an “objective textuality”, original and orthographical; on the other hand, a “subjective textuality”, disseminating and intertextual, anarchic and unrestrained. Finally, this text proposes the revision, recomposition and “rewriting” of the critical commentary on the basis of a new self-reflexive and performative textology. That is: a sort of undiscipline in writing that knowingly manoeuvres the linguistic coordinates of its elocution (neology, typographism, quotation processes…) and that does not try to conceal or repress the intertextual, contextual, heterogenous and disparate personality of its author. Through a sort of “textual exemplarity” (Cage), this work insists on a synthesis both productive and expressive between the voices analyzing and the voices being analyzed. We will see accordingly that this proposition implies, from time to time, that the text be marginalized. / Toutes les illustrations qui ponctuent cette thèse ont été réalisées par Chantal Poirier. Elles ont été insérées dans le texte selon un ordre méticuleusement aléatoire.

The puzzle known as tangram was the inspiration behind this composition. Just as the seven pieces of the tangram create shapes, seven contrasting musical fragments appear as thematic materials from which to draw sonic imagery. Sapphic Fragments for two sopranos This composition was constructed from “broken” materials - an analogy for Sappho's dismembered poem. These broken materials were arranged in a pointillistic manner. I drew inspiration from M.C. Escher's works to vary thematic fragments of this work. M.O.N.T.A.G.E. for flute, clarinet, violin and cello This work was influenced by the video work, Wantee, by artist, Laure Prouvost. The title, M.O.N.T.A.G.E., is an acrostic, using words that show intimate relations with my composition: Multicolour, Oscillation, Numbers, Television, the Artist, Gleam, Etc. Once Emerged from the Grey of Night for flute, clarinet, horn, violin, viola and cello This sextet consists of numerous fragments with various colours and textures, forming a musical collage. A picture-poem by Paul Klee offered the starting point for this work. Scale-Free Spaces for flute, guitar, viola and cello I drew compositional ideas from the video installation, Irreversible, by artist Norimichi Hirakawa. This quartet was composed of brief fragments of dots, lines and movements. Various fragments were structured in forms of both simplicity and complexity. For the latter, ideas were drawn from the study in randomness, ‘Scale-Free Network’. String Quartet no. 3 This composition consists of four movements. In the first and third movements, the sound of rain drops and images of light through stained glass are explored. The second and fourth movements effect a structural metamorphoses of musical elements. I drew inspiration from Kafka's novella The Metamorphosis. A Thousand Plateaux for orchestra In this orchestral work, a variety of images of both plateaux and movements were invoked. The work was inspired by both the book, A Thousand Plateaux by Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari, and the Alhambra palace in Granada, Spain.