Mémoire numérisé par la Division de la gestion de documents et des archives de l'Université de Montréal.

La figure mythique du double se manifeste dans la majorité des cultures sous des formes archétypales renvoyant à l’expérience de la division de l’individu en positions antithétiques ou complémentaires. Dans la littérature gothique et fantastique, le mythe est propice à créer un sentiment d’angoisse et d’horreur soulignant les problèmes et mystères de la schize du sujet. Ce travail d’analyse propose de regrouper les récits de doubles selon deux catégories d’occurrences thématiques en se basant sur le traitement textuel qui en est fait, soit l’apparition du double par homonymie d’une part et par pseudonymie de l’autre. Ceci mènera ultimement à commenter sur la perception qu’a l’auteur de lui-même et du processus de création. Le problème de la division étant au cœur des balbutiements théoriques en psychologie et en psychanalyse, une grille analytique lacanienne et post-structuraliste sera appliquée à cette recherche. Les œuvres traitées seront New York Trilogy de Paul Auster, The Dark Half de Stephen King, William Wilson d’Edgar Allan Poe, Le Double de Fédor Dostoïevski et Despair de Vladimir Nabokov. / The mythical figure of the double appears in most of cultures through archetypes translating the human experience of division, be it complementary or antithetical. In Gothic and Fantastic literatures, the myth often stands for a feeling of anguish and horror underlining the mysteries and complications arising from the subject’s dividedness. This analysis wishes to group into two thematic categories occurrences of doubles based on the textual treatment that is made of them: doubles as homonyms and as pseudonyms. This distinction will lead in commenting on the author’s perception of himself and of the creative process. We will use a Lacanian and post-structuralist reading grid, based on the fact that dividedness has been a core issue in psychological and psychoanalytical theoretical developments. The works studied will be Paul Auster’s New York Trilogy, Stephen King’s The Dark Half, Edgar Allan Poe’s William Wilson, Fyodor Dostoevsky’s The Double and Vladimir Nabokov’s Despair.

This thesis examines the debate between morality and aesthetics that is outlined by Nabokov in Lolita’s afterword. Incorporating a discussion of Lolita’s critical history in order to reveal how critics have chosen a single, limited side of the debate, either the moral or aesthetic, this thesis seeks to expose the complexities of the novel where morality and aesthetics intersect. First, the general moral and aesthetic features of Lolita are discussed. Finally, I address the two together, illustrating how Lolita cannot be categorized as immoral, amoral, or didactic. Instead, it is through the juxtaposition of form and content, parody and reality, that the intersection of aesthetics and morality appears, subverting and repudiating the voice of its own narrator and protagonist, evoking sympathy for an appropriated and abused child, and challenging readers to evaluate their own ethical boundaries.

La figure mythique du double se manifeste dans la majorité des cultures sous des formes archétypales renvoyant à l’expérience de la division de l’individu en positions antithétiques ou complémentaires. Dans la littérature gothique et fantastique, le mythe est propice à créer un sentiment d’angoisse et d’horreur soulignant les problèmes et mystères de la schize du sujet. Ce travail d’analyse propose de regrouper les récits de doubles selon deux catégories d’occurrences thématiques en se basant sur le traitement textuel qui en est fait, soit l’apparition du double par homonymie d’une part et par pseudonymie de l’autre. Ceci mènera ultimement à commenter sur la perception qu’a l’auteur de lui-même et du processus de création. Le problème de la division étant au cœur des balbutiements théoriques en psychologie et en psychanalyse, une grille analytique lacanienne et post-structuraliste sera appliquée à cette recherche. Les œuvres traitées seront New York Trilogy de Paul Auster, The Dark Half de Stephen King, William Wilson d’Edgar Allan Poe, Le Double de Fédor Dostoïevski et Despair de Vladimir Nabokov. / The mythical figure of the double appears in most of cultures through archetypes translating the human experience of division, be it complementary or antithetical. In Gothic and Fantastic literatures, the myth often stands for a feeling of anguish and horror underlining the mysteries and complications arising from the subject’s dividedness. This analysis wishes to group into two thematic categories occurrences of doubles based on the textual treatment that is made of them: doubles as homonyms and as pseudonyms. This distinction will lead in commenting on the author’s perception of himself and of the creative process. We will use a Lacanian and post-structuralist reading grid, based on the fact that dividedness has been a core issue in psychological and psychoanalytical theoretical developments. The works studied will be Paul Auster’s New York Trilogy, Stephen King’s The Dark Half, Edgar Allan Poe’s William Wilson, Fyodor Dostoevsky’s The Double and Vladimir Nabokov’s Despair.

Mémoire numérisé par la Division de la gestion de documents et des archives de l'Université de Montréal

<p>Abstract</p><p>During the last decade many female writers of British decent have focused on identity construction and coming of age. These writers have been especially interested in exploring how people living in the diaspora are trying to cope with their ambivalent feelings towards their mixed cultural heritage. Helen Oyeyemi's <em>The Icarus Girl</em> is one of these novels. The novel depicts a young girl's struggle with the dualism within her, being both British and Nigerian, that threatens to dissolve her self-identity. This essay will explore how <em>The Icarus Girl</em> deals with the theme “double consciousness” (imposed binaries) and how the narrative's structure and stylistic devices enable the story to be read (interpreted) from two different perspectives, thus the narrative's structure offers an ambiguous double reading that corresponds to Jessamy's unresolved doubleness. The first reading suggests that the traumatic experience of “double consciousness“ is left in a status quo, or even being fatal, which in the essay is called the Western reading. The second reading suggests a recovery, i.e. that the young protagonist comes to terms with her mixed cultural heritage, the so-called West-African reading. In pursuing this aim I discuss how “double consciousness” in this novel is a traumatic state of mind transferred from mother to daughter, but also how stylistic devices, belonging to the genre of the fantastic, are used to emphasize the theme and make possible the two different readings.</p>

Abstract During the last decade many female writers of British decent have focused on identity construction and coming of age. These writers have been especially interested in exploring how people living in the diaspora are trying to cope with their ambivalent feelings towards their mixed cultural heritage. Helen Oyeyemi's The Icarus Girl is one of these novels. The novel depicts a young girl's struggle with the dualism within her, being both British and Nigerian, that threatens to dissolve her self-identity. This essay will explore how The Icarus Girl deals with the theme “double consciousness” (imposed binaries) and how the narrative's structure and stylistic devices enable the story to be read (interpreted) from two different perspectives, thus the narrative's structure offers an ambiguous double reading that corresponds to Jessamy's unresolved doubleness. The first reading suggests that the traumatic experience of “double consciousness“ is left in a status quo, or even being fatal, which in the essay is called the Western reading. The second reading suggests a recovery, i.e. that the young protagonist comes to terms with her mixed cultural heritage, the so-called West-African reading. In pursuing this aim I discuss how “double consciousness” in this novel is a traumatic state of mind transferred from mother to daughter, but also how stylistic devices, belonging to the genre of the fantastic, are used to emphasize the theme and make possible the two different readings.