Diss.--Boston (Mass.), 2005. / Bibliogr. p. 298-325.

Diss. Ph. D.--Philosophy--New York, 1999. / Bibliogr. p. 293-301.

Si l’ineffable est tenu pour le paradoxe emblématique dans la secte zen de la religion bouddhique, il semble que le rétrécissement du langage se manifeste dans la mesure de l’interprétation de buddhadhātu (la bouddheité ; nature de bouddha). Il est donc évident que le zen admet à la fois une lacune de langage et une sorte de mouvement permanent de phénomène entraînant ainsi, selon le terme sanskrit du bouddhisme, un sentiment de śūnyatā (la vacuité). Cette absence de la substance permanente ou ce désir d’échapper à la réalité physique nous permettrait de l’associer naturellement non seulement à l’ineffable vide chez Henri Michaux (1899-1984), mais également à ses créations issues de l’inconscient pour reconstituer un espace sacré dans son dedans. À partir de ce constat, notre recherche tente, en se focalisant sur cette dialectique entre macrocosme et microcosme, d’aborder un esprit oriental qui pourrait remonter à sa source religieuse, et s’approcher plus tard de tous les domaines esthétiques. En effet, les empreintes de la mystique orientale (hindouisme, taoïsme, bouddhisme, etc.) dans l’univers spirituel de Michaux apportent déjà un autre regard vis-à-vis de ses procédés ésotériques et nous dévoileraient même quelque chose à la fois de l’ordre de l’ineffable et de l’invisible. / When the ineffable is widely considered the symbolic paradox in the Zen school of Buddhism, it seems that the narrowness of language has been thus demonstrated in the realm of interpretation of buddhadhātu (buddha-nature). Therefore, the Zen has been characterized by its emphasis on both the rupture of language and a permanent movement of phenomena, which leads probably to a kind of sense of śūnyatā (emptiness). This impermanence of substance or this strong feeling to escape from the physical reality allows us, in this way, to associate it, not only with l’ineffable vide (the ineffable void) of Henri Michaux (1899-1984), but also with his creation driven by the unconsciousness in order to rebuild a sacred space in his dedans (inside).From this perspective, this study aims, by focusing on the dialectic between macrocosm and microcosm, to approach an Oriental spirit which could be traced back to its religious source and gradually permeate through all kinds of aesthetic fields. The stamps of some Oriental mystic thoughts (Hinduism, Taoism, Buddhism, etc.) in the spiritual world of Michaux have, moreover, brought another point of view towards his esoteric technique and revealed to us something ineffable as well as invisible.

Avec pour point de départ les théories de Roland Barthes, de Maurice Blanchot et de Ginette Michaud, une étude du fragment est entreprise pour démontrer, dans un premier temps, les complexités relatives à l'emploi de cette forme (difficultés de définition, de traitement et d'analyse) ainsi que les principaux obstacles encourus lors de la lecture de récits fragmentés. Ce travail se veut d'abord une mise au point concernant les études du fragment pour ensuite laisser la place à l'analyse du silence et à son emploi dans la conversation mondaine, dans son inscription littéraire ainsi que dans son adaptation cinématographique. L'oeuvre de Valérie Mréjen se démarque par la multiplicité des médiums empruntés ainsi que par la réflexion qu'elle développe sur le langage et sa représentation. La lecture de ses récits fragmentés installe une impasse de la communication relevant de silences, représentés par l'arrêt de l'écriture et une mise en place du blanc. Cet entre-deux fragmentaire, utilisé comme déjoueur de la parole (mondaine, familiale et amoureuse), fait le pont entre la vacuité des paroles proférées (dans le but de servir un paraître social ou familial) et leur réception, leur incompréhension. Le récit Mon grand-père introduit l'univers banal et commun du quotidien familial par l'utilisation du fragment; il offre le portrait narratif et photographique des efforts entrepris entre les membres d'une famille pour resserrer les liens, pour installer une communication solide, ainsi que les échecs qui découlent de ces tentatives. D'une autre façon, L'Agrume met en scène les silences dans une relation amoureuse qui n'arrive pas à démarrer faute de communication Ici, c'est la gestuelle qui amplifie le manque dialogique entre les amoureux; la volonté de développer une communication amoureuse est transcrite par des actions, mais résulte systématiquement en un plus grand silence. Finalement, ce même silence est adapté dans La défaite du rouge-gorge, court-métrage mettant en images l'impasse de la communication, toujours en utilisant le fragmentaire comme moteur de la réflexion sur la langue et son silence. Mréjen tente une inscription de l'indicible à l'aide du fragment et notre étude se veut une observation de cette inscription qui passe par le littéraire, la photographie et le cinéma. ______________________________________________________________________________ MOTS-CLÉS DE L’AUTEUR : Mréjen, Fragment, Silence, Indicible, Polaroïd, Adaptation cinématographique.

Simultaneously published as author's dissertation--Universität Leipzig, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (p. [272]-304) and index.

La lecture de l'œuvre de Nicolas Bouvier nous aide à mieux "habiter le monde", à mieux en apprécier la beauté, le mystère ou la profondeur grâce aux voyages et aux lectures, grâce à la photographie, à la musique et la poésie, grâce au son, au verbe et à l’image. Son écriture, à la fois érotique et musicale, acquiert de ce fait une dimension universelle à laquelle contribuent son humanisme, son écoute attentive du monde, son humilité. Son œuvre entière est un constant retour aux sens, au corps, à la terre, mais il n’en est pas moins fasciné par le mystère et par la relation particulière avec le monde qui est celle des mystiques.L’"habitation poétique", pour Bouvier, est indissociable de l’ "habitation" de l’écriture et de sa quête de "l’unité du monde". "Habiter" l’écriture, pour lui, consiste à tenter de trouver une "unité" toujours fragile, toujours menacée, mais ressentie comme un bien d’autant plus précieux, entre le moi et le monde. Le détail le plus modeste prend chez lui l'allure d'une apparition, d'une "visite". Bouvier reconnaît que "l'exercice de disparition" lui impose de faire disparaître toute trace d'ego, ce qui lui permet de vivre le sacré de l'intérieur et ainsi d'accéder à la poésie, qui n'est jamais vécue par lui comme une conquête.Habiter poétiquement le monde ce serait unir l’obsession du mystère et la quête du sens, le macrocosme et le microcosme, la douleur et la plénitude, le désespoir et la beauté, l’acte de création et l’exercice de disparition, ce serait rechercher inlassablement l’harmonie. / The reading of the work of Nicolas Bouvier helps us better "living world", to better appreciate the beauty, the mystery or depth through travel and readings, thanks to photography, music and poetry, thanks to the sound, to the verb and image. His writing, both erotic and music, thereby acquires a universal dimension to which contribute its humanism, its attentive listening to the world, his humility. His entire work is a constant return to the senses, to the body, to the Earth, but it is no less fascinated by the mystery and the special relationship with the world is that of the mystics.The "poetic habitation", Bouvier, is inseparable from the "habitation" of Scripture and his quest for "the unity of the world. "Live" writing, for him, is to try to find a "unit" still fragile, still threatened, but felt as a good all the more valuable, between the self and the world. The more modest retail takes home the appearance of an appearance of a "visit". Bouvier recognizes "the exercise of disappearance" imposed to remove any trace of ego, which allows him to experience the sacred from the inside and thus access to poetry, which is never experienced by him as a conquest.Poetically inhabit the world would unite obsession with the mystery and the quest for the meaning, the macrocosm and microcosm, pain and fullness, despair and beauty, the Act of creation and the exercise of disappearance, it would search tirelessly harmony.

Três eram as principais tarefas da retórica clássica: instruir, deleitar e mover as almas à ação. Nas Confissões, contudo, percebe-se que elas são excedidas por um emprego nada convencional dos recursos da ars, de que rhetor Agostinho era mestre, a fim de perse-guir finalidade filosófica ulterior: dizer o indizível. Trata-se do uso duma palavra retórica que se quer circular, tautócrona, oblíqua, poética, oracular e paradoxal, em sua eloquência silenciosa. Numa primeira parte, pretende-se ressaltar a circularidade e tautocronia dessa palavra retórica que quer invocar, louvar e conhecer o incognoscível, mas que não prescinde da fé, tampouco da inteligência daquilo em que pretende crer e que quer apregoar, o que se faz por meio duma leitura analítica dos dois primeiros parágrafos do livro inaugural (Conf. 1,1,1-2). Na sequência, procura-se analisar os mecanismos elocutórios, de modo especial o oximoro, da palavra retórica com que Agostinho pretende dar conta da própria Palavra divina, Verbum que se fez carne. De duas maneiras se destacam essas ferramentas retóricas. Primeiro, por sua obliquidade, própria a uma linguagem que busca incessantemente extrapolar seus limites, encontrando um certo modo novo de dizer com arte, segundo a definição de figura de Quintiliano. Depois, por seu inusitado silêncio, próprio dum dizer que nada diz, em sua pretensão de exprimir o inexprimível, e que nesse não dizer diz mais do que se tivesse dito muito. Trata-se, pois, duma retórica do silêncio, que não se conforma em não dizer o indizível, pretendendo superar os limites impostos por um discurso de gênero redutor, que nega qualquer possibilidade de dizer aquilo que se tem por inefável, o Ser supremo, ainda que se veja reduzida a fazê-lo através dum espelho, em enigma (1Cor 13,12). Lo-go, desenvolve-se neste trabalho um estudo filosófico das técnicas retóricas utilizadas pelo pensador de Hipona, de modo especial as figuras de elocução, que se utilizam como meio de ultrapassar os limites duma linguagem estritamente apofática, a fim de que se cumprisse a missão cristã da pregação do Verbo encarnado. / Three were the main tasks of classical rhetoric: instruct, delight and move souls to action. In the Confessions, however, one realizes that they are exceeded by an uncon-ventional application of the arss resources, of which the rhetor Augustine was master, in order to pursue a further philosophical purpose: saying the unsayable. This is done primarily by the use of a rhetoric word that pretends to be circular, simultaneous, oblique, poetic, oracular and paradoxical, in its silent eloquence. Firstly it is intended to emphasize the circularity and simultaneity of this rhetoric word that wants to invoke, praise and know the unknowable, but that neither prescinds from faith nor from the un-derstanding of what it wants to believe in and proclaim, what is done by means of an analytical reading of the first two paragraphs of the opening book (Conf. 1.1.1-2). Sub-sequently, with an special emphasis on the oxymoron, the elocution mechanisms are analyzed: the rhetoric word with which Augustine gives an account of the divine Word, the Verbum that was made flesh. These rhetorical tools stand out in two ways. First, by their obliquity, peculiar to a language that ceaselessly seeks to extrapolate its limits, finding a certain new way to say with art, according to Quintilians definition of figure. Then, by its unaccustomed silence, peculiar to a saying that nothing says, in its aspira-tion to express the inexpressible, and by not saying it says more than if it had much said. And that is what is named a rhetoric of silence: one that does not resign itself to not saying the unsayable and intends to overcome the limits imposed by a reductive gender of discourse which denies any possibility of saying what is considered to be ineffable, the Supreme Being, even if it sees itself obliged to perform it through a mirror, in a riddle (1Cor 13,12). Therefore, it is developed in this work a philosophical study of the rhetorical techniques utilized by the thinker of Hippo, especially the figures of speech, which are put to use as a means to overcome the limits of a strictly apophatic language, so that the Christian mission could be fulfilled, preaching the Incarnate Word.

This dissertation rhetorically analyzes the ways in which ineffable moments of awakening are constructed in the context of three religions: Judaism, Christianity, and Zen. Close textual analysis revealed that awakening is constructed differently in all three religions and that ineffability itself assumed different meanings in all cases. The conventional understanding of language as arbitrary and as based on human convention does not apply to Hebrew which takes itself to be a sacred language. Words are understood in this tradition as creative elements that convey more than trivial information and the term ineffability does not occupy much thought in Judaism. Christianity is grounded in a representative model of language and equates words with mortality and temporality. Awakening is constructed ontologically as moments in which textuality and corporality are transcended and one merges with the infinite divine. Zen is cautious about the ways in which language constructs the illusion of distinct identities, but ineffability is not constructed as an ontological concept in this tradition. Awakening is understood as beyond all words. The tropes recognized in the Jewish construction of awakening are metonymy, dialogue, differences, juxtapositions, particularities, haunting, and intertextuality. In Christianity, the dominant tropes are allegory, typology, metaphors, substitution, replacement and abstraction. Awakening is modeled after the resurrection of Jesus and is understood as a dramatic and ineffable event. The dominant rhetorical moves in Zen are suchness, nonsense, and paradoxes. Differences are also found between the construction of subjectivity, the perception of time, aesthetics, the linguistic model and ineffability. Judaism views itself as an architecture of time, but this time is not linear and is instead understood by the qualitative moments of the events. Awakening maintains the reverberations of past events into the present, but present moments are given significant attention. In Christianity, man is understood as grounded in space and progressing on a linear axis of time from birth towards his telos. Ineffability is constructed spatially and the event of awakening divides life into before and after. Zen attempts to deconstruct time and views it as sunyata, or “emptiness”. / text

This thesis uses the photographic portrait as an example of contemporary art practice to examine developments in aesthetic sensibility and constructions of meaning with particular address to ineffable qualities in both the subject and in the photograph. It examines the contribution of practice to a wider cultural debate, predominantly described as poststructural. Thomas Ruff's contention that it is impossible to photographically depict an individual, establishes a methodology that interrogates assumptions and directs examination toward reconfiguring issues of theory and practice. In the photographic portrait, what is `essential' equates with the expectation of visual statements that are definitive and what is 'ineffable' is that which transcends words. The persistent premise of capturing the 'essence' is dependant on the notion of 'presence', the certainty of pure perception or essential meaning, now undermined by poststructuralism in terms of conceptions of meaning and authorship. If essential depiction is problematic, how might a correlative adjustment to conceiving and validating photographic meaning be framed? How are essential or ineffable qualities displaced, formed and manifested? What constitutes the contemporary 'meaningful' portrait? Realigned as 'depictions of people', the 'portrait' serves a complex function, adjusted in the light of psychoanalysis and poststructuralism and visibly manifested as metaphor for contemporary consciousness. With particular reference to texts by Julia Kristeva, Emmanuel Levinas, Jacques Derrida and Jean Baudrillard, this thesis demonstrates photographic practice as a form of discourse that visualises implicit truth-values, and participates in debate. It asserts figural interpretations to photographs over literary systems like narrative, and immanent property over aspirations to 'transcendence' or 'essence' and proposes reconfigurations of psychological, critical or poetic 'fiction' as alternatives. It repositions the ineffable as a conceptual domain of possibility that assimilates the dynamic of differance as its poststructural equivalent and proposes a conceptual aesthetic that celebrates aspects of poststructuralism and is rooted in what the photograph provokes rather than what it depicts.

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