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This dissertation explores the way for late 20th century poets use form in their work as means to map, encounter, witness to, and struggle with various kinds of silences. It explores the work of Louise Glȕck, M. Nourbese Philip, Jorie Graham, and Michael Palmer. / Published version / Doctor of Philosophy in English / In the conversion to current Word and PDF formats, pagination has changed slightly from the original document.

Ces quarante dernières années, Louise Glück a su s’imposer dans le paysage de la poésiecontemporaine américaine sans que l’on ait jamais pu l’assigner à quelque genre que ce soit. Sa poésie déroute car traversée par le féminin, elle s’obstine pourtant à lui résister. Le moi glückien se dissimule derrière des masques plus ou moins opaques : des personae de la mythologie telle Perséphone auxmasques sournoisement transparents du recueil Ararat, sa voix poétique se fait plurielle mais singulière, celle d’un moi qui parle, toujours en proie au désir. Glück édifie dans chacun de ses recueils un réseau de paradigmes où la mémoire coexiste avec l’oubli, où la domesticité s’oppose à l’ailleurs hostile, où le mythe et l’ordinaire se confrontent et se confondent.Louise Glück esquive ces structures paradigmatiques à travers une poétique épurée et une ponctuation qui obscurcissent et diffèrent le sens jusqu’à l’éluder. L’entre-deux que son oeuvre explore forme à la fois un interstice et une béance : ce peut être la fissure d’Averno, la crevasse du deux-points ou le silence de Dieu dans The Wild Iris ; le milieu qui nous sépare de l’autre et de nous-mêmes et qui, simultanément, nous lie inextricablement à eux. Nous appelons ce milieu pluriel le neutre, concept que nous devons à Roland Barthes qui lui a consacré un cours au Collège de France en 1977-1978. Nous nous sommes inspirés de son approche pour lire la poésie de Glück, dont les personae sont habitées par un désir qui est, chez le poète, un désir d’écriture pour surseoir à la mort : un désir de neutre. / For forty years now, Louise Glück has been a major figure in contemporary American poetry, particularly because her poems shun the obvious and the lyric genres as we know them. If her poetry give the feminine to read, her work resists and endures it as a genre. The various masks the poet puts on may often seem transparent, but the poetic voice remains that of a persona, be it Persephone or even the ones in Ararat, her most life-inspired collection. Many and different are the faces to people her work, but behind the mask, Glück’s remains unique: her voice can be described as Dickinsonian in its bareness and subversive imagery: disguised as a desiring I, the impersonal threatens. Throughout her work, Glück has drawn a web of paradigmatic oppositions, only to be ‘baffled’: memory coexists with oblivion, the safe and cozy home is opposed to the dangerous outside world, the mythic and the mundane are intertwined in Meadowlands.Louise Glück evades and outplays the paradigm thanks to a bare language and a choice of punctuation, which darken and delay meaning to the extent of eluding it. Her poems explore an inbetweenness, which assumes the shape of a Freudian rift in Persephone’s soul, or of God’s silence to His creatures’s prayers in The Wild Iris. We are naming such in-betweenness the Neutral, a theory the French literary theorist and semiotician Roland Barthes exposed in a lecture course at the Collège de France in 1977-1978. The Neutral is the desire and its intensity, it is what parts us from the other and from ourselves, what intimately binds us together. Our reading of Louise Glück’s poetry was firstly inspired by Barthes’s theory. We see in her work a desire for the Neutral which translates as a desire for the poet to write, and relentlessly defer the instant of death.

Les Soeurs Deblois de Louise Tremblay d’Essiambre qui a connu un succès inespéré fait l’objet de cette thèse. Le but de cette étude consiste à expliquer le succès de cette saga familiale, plus précisément, de montrer comment cette saga suscite l’intérêt du lecteur et capte son attention. Cette étude porte sur deux axes essentiels : la mise en intrigue et lespersonnages dans Les Soeurs Deblois. À travers l’analyse des conflits importants entre les personnages principaux, l’étude sur la mise en place de la tension narrative et l’explication sur le jeu des coïncidences dans Les Soeurs Deblois, nous avons clarifié la stratégie de la mise en intrigue de l’auteure et nous avons mis en lumière l’importance de la dynamique de l’intrigue dans la production de l’intérêt du lecteur. Le personnage est l’un des éléments clés du succès de cette saga familiale. L’étude du système des personnages, les réflexions sur la description et l’analyse des personnages féminins nous permettent de dégager que les personnages réalistes et attachants créés par Louise Tremblay d’Essiambre contribuent à l’interaction entre le texte et le lecteur et tendent à capter l’attention du lecteur. / Louise Tremblay d’Essiambre’s The Deblois Sisters that had an unexpected success is the subject of this thesis. The purpose of this study is to explain the success of this family saga, specifically, to show how this saga arouses the reader’s interest and captures his attention. This study focuses on two key areas : the emplotment and the characters in The DebloisSisters. Through the analysis of major conflicts between the main characters, the study on the establishment of the narrative tension and the explanation on the game of coincidences in The Deblois Sisters, we have clarified the strategy of setting plot of the author and we have highlighted the importance of the dynamics of the plot in the production of the reader’s interest. The character is one of the key elements in the success of this family saga. The study of the system of the characters, les reflections on the description and the analysis of female characters allow us to reach a conclusion : therealistic and attractive characters created by Louise Tremblay d’Essiambre contribute to the interaction between the text and the reader and tend to capture the reader’s attention.

[pt] O presente trabalho pretende delinear os principais fundamentos de um programa de ascese de Louise Colet (1810 – 1876) esboçado por Gustave Flaubert (1821 – 1880). Com este intuito, debruça-se sobre a correspondência escrita por Flaubert a Louise, com quem o escritor manteve uma relação amorosa ao longo de oito anos. Assim, o exame das missivas traz à luz o programa de ascese que se estabelece através da intensa relação de intimidade entre os dois escritores. Sob este aspecto, examinam-se os aconselhamentos que se encontram nas cartas, através de um diálogo com o pensamento de Pierre Hadot e de Michel Foucault. Pela via da relação de amor erótico entre Gustave e Louise, a ascese que se apresenta à escritora, é, ao mesmo tempo, também exercícios espirituais para Flaubert, do mesmo modo que o são para a escritora. Deste movimento de busca por aprimoramento pessoal que se revela pela análise das correspondências, apreende-se a importância da relação amorosa para a afirmação e continuidade da ascese. Tal busca tem como finalidade principal possibilitar uma completa modificação da personalidade, conduzindo-a na direção de uma vida vivida virtuosamente, i.e., a vida que encontra na otimização da realização do ofício um prazer, segundo as conceituações de Aristóteles em Ética a Nicômaco. Para tanto, os estudos de Jacques Lacan sobre estrutura e cadeia significante proporcionam os instrumentos para a análise do texto das cartas. / [fr] Le présent travail vise à définir les principales bases d un programme d ascèse de Louise Colet (1810 - 1876) esquissé par Gustave Flaubert (1821 - 1880). À cet effet, on se penche sur la correspondance écrite par Flaubert à Louise, avec qui l écrivain a entretenu une relation amoureuse pendant huit ans. Ainsi, l analyse des missives met en lumière le programme d ascèse qui est établi à travers l intense rapport d intimité entre les deux écrivains. A cet égard, on examine les conseils trouvés dans les lettres, à travers un dialogue avec la pensée de Pierre Hadot et Michel Foucault. Par la voie de la relation amoureuse érotique entre Gustave et Louise, l ascèse qui se présente à l écrivaine est aussi en même temps des exercices spirituels pour Flaubert, aussi bien que pour l écrivaine. De ce mouvement de recherche d amélioration personnelle révélée par l analyse des correspondances, on apprend l importance du rapport amoureux pour l affirmation et la continuité de l ascèse. Une telle recherche a pour but principal de rendre possible une modification complète de la personnalité, en la menant vers une vie vécue vertueusement, c est-à-dire la vie qui trouve dans l optimisation de la réalisation de l office un plaisir, selon les conceptions d Aristote dans l Ethique à Nicomaque. Pour ce faire, les études de Jacques Lacan sur la structure et la chaîne signifiante fournissent les outils pour l analyse du texte des lettres.

The nineteenth century in Germany posed a repressive environment for-women as they were defined as inferior to men and forced into the subservient roles of housewives and mothers. This thesis examines the portrayal of femininity in three contemporary writers of the period, Louise Aston, Charlotte Birch-Pfeiffer and Louise von Francois. The first chapter endeavors to situate the writers in their social environment. It examines the mechanics that supported the patriarchal system, such as socializing women through education and categorizing them as inferior to justify and support their traditional roles. Chapters two, three, and four respectively deal with each author, presenting an introduction to their particular conditions and a brief summary of their lives. Following this, the individual tests are analyzed for their portrayal of femininity. These writers' visions of femininity differ greatly. Aston, whose career spanned the revolution of 1848, openly promotes liberal-humanist ideas and advocates the emancipation of women. Her heroines bear male an female traits and rise to positions of power and leadership. Birch-Pfeiffer's women are strong and independent. She frequently reverses the traditional gender roles. However, she upholds the moral code of her time, including the idea of the woman as exemplar of chastity and virtue . Francois idealizes the traditional role of women. However, she elevates that role by extolling motherhood and marital fidelity as supreme virtues. Despite these differences, there are similarities. All three writers offer an alternative picture of femininity despite this adherence, to a greater or lesser degree, to the traditional values of their time. In addition, they all criticize the patriarchal structures of society, revealing their discontent more or less openly. Finally, their portrayal of femininity was in each case based on their particular circumstances of the individual writers lives. Aston exploited the revolutionary times to present a strong claim for female emancipation; Birch- Pfeiffer, in need o f money, adapted strongly to the taste of her audience, finding in turn, interested recipients for her ideas; and Francois, a very private and proud person, chose to upgrade the women's role within the tradition, in attempt to avoid public attention. Within their circumstances, each one of the authors presented the best possible version of femininity as an alternative to traditional values.

The thesis explores the variety of dialogue in the work of American poetess Louise Glück (*1943). It also points out three options for crossing over the aesthetics of absence. The analysis concerns mainly poems included in the collection The Wild Iris (1992), but it also takes in consideration Gluck's other poetical books such as Averno (2006) and Meadowlands (1996). After naming the nodes which make the contact in the collections, the thesis surpasses the field of literature for creating the dialogue with the aesthetics of absence according to German composer Heiner Goebbels (*1952), with the negative theology of French philosopher Simone Weil (1909-1943) and with the absence of the other in the paintings of Vilhelm Hammershøi (1864-1916). This interdisciplinary dialog seeks to describes one of the major tendencies of Gluck's poetry, which is the ghostly possibility of encountering with otherness

« Je n’ai plus de prières si ce n’est pour elle, mon imagination entière ne prend forme qu’autour d’elle et le monde qui m’entoure n’existe que par elle. » Avec ces mots, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe décrit l'amour et les Leiden des jungen Werthers qui deviennent un succès mondial. Pour Anne Louise Germaine de Staël, le protagoniste est le représentant de l’amour unique, puisque exceptionnel, Charles François Dominique de Villers admire sa « Sehnsucht, Ahndung, Schwärmerei » et c’est Stendhal qui nomme le phénomène de l'amour allemand pour la première fois concrètement comme « Amour à la Werther qui ouvre l’âme à tous les arts ». En souhaitant présenter à leur pays natal un modèle complémentaire, ou même, comme Villers, une alternative à la conception française de l’amour, ils transfèrent l’idéal « romantique » de Werther sur son auteur et sur tousles Allemands. Mais peut-on se contenter de dire que Villers, Mme de Staël et Stendhal se sont mépris sur Goethe et son ouvrage ? Cette interprétation s’opposerait aux objectifs de ce projet de recherche francoallemand,d’illustrer à l’aide de l’Amour à la Werther le « commerce des idées » entre 1770 et 1840 dans lequel« toutes les nations proposent leurs marchandises. » Les malentendus provoqués par ces efforts de médiation sont la partie essentielle des transferts culturels. Ils prouvent à Goethe après tout « qu’il est lui-même, à son corps défendant, un romantique » et à l’auteure de la présente thèse, que l’amour ne se laisse pas nationaliser et que les stéréotypes comme, par exemple, la frivolité des français et la profondeur des allemands, atteignent leur limite avec ce phénomène. / “Ich habe kein Gebet mehr, als an sie; meiner Einbildungskraft erscheint keine andere Gestalt als die ihrige,und alles in der Welt um mich her sehe ich nur im Verhältnisse mit ihr“. With these words Johann Wolfgang von Goethe characterizes the deep sentiment of a heartfelt love in his Leiden des jungen Werthers, which became aworldwide success. For Anne Louise Germaine de Staël the protagonist is the representative of a unique love,Charles François Dominique de Villers admires Werther’s “Sehnsucht, Ahndung, Schwärmerei“, and Stendhal isthe first who specifies the phenomenon of the German love as “Amour à la Werther qui ouvre l'âme à tous lesarts.” In trying to bring forward a model of a supplement, or even, like Villers, of the substitute of the Frenchconcept of love to their native country, these authors assign the “romantic” ideal of Werther to his author and,moreover, to all Germans. However, does it suffice to say that Villers, de Staël and Stendhal havemisunderstood Goethe and his work? With their interpretation of Werther’s love, those authors offer an interesting example of “geistiger Handelsverkehr” between different European countries, i.e. the considerableinteraction between various cultures at the end of the 18th and the beginning of the 19th century. Themisunderstandings, which are caused by these efforts of the intercultural mediation, are an essential part of theinteraction. They prove to Goethe after all, “dass er selber, wider Willen, romantisch ist.“ And to the author ofthis thesis they prove that love cannot be perceived within the borders of nations, and that it cannot simply bebroken down to stereotypes such as the frivolous Frenchman or the profound German.

The nineteenth century in Germany posed a repressive environment for-women as they were defined as inferior to men and forced into the subservient roles of housewives and mothers. This thesis examines the portrayal of femininity in three contemporary writers of the period, Louise Aston, Charlotte Birch-Pfeiffer and Louise von Francois. The first chapter endeavors to situate the writers in their social environment. It examines the mechanics that supported the patriarchal system, such as socializing women through education and categorizing them as inferior to justify and support their traditional roles. Chapters two, three, and four respectively deal with each author, presenting an introduction to their particular conditions and a brief summary of their lives. Following this, the individual tests are analyzed for their portrayal of femininity. These writers' visions of femininity differ greatly. Aston, whose career spanned the revolution of 1848, openly promotes liberal-humanist ideas and advocates the emancipation of women. Her heroines bear male an female traits and rise to positions of power and leadership. Birch-Pfeiffer's women are strong and independent. She frequently reverses the traditional gender roles. However, she upholds the moral code of her time, including the idea of the woman as exemplar of chastity and virtue . Francois idealizes the traditional role of women. However, she elevates that role by extolling motherhood and marital fidelity as supreme virtues. Despite these differences, there are similarities. All three writers offer an alternative picture of femininity despite this adherence, to a greater or lesser degree, to the traditional values of their time. In addition, they all criticize the patriarchal structures of society, revealing their discontent more or less openly. Finally, their portrayal of femininity was in each case based on their particular circumstances of the individual writers lives. Aston exploited the revolutionary times to present a strong claim for female emancipation; Birch- Pfeiffer, in need o f money, adapted strongly to the taste of her audience, finding in turn, interested recipients for her ideas; and Francois, a very private and proud person, chose to upgrade the women's role within the tradition, in attempt to avoid public attention. Within their circumstances, each one of the authors presented the best possible version of femininity as an alternative to traditional values. / Arts, Faculty of / Central Eastern Northern European Studies, Department of / Graduate

Das Interesse an interpretatorischen Neuerkundungen jenseits des hermeneutisch Gewohnten und an geschlechtsambiguen, (rollen-) transgressiven Heldinnen zeichnet auch den Beitrag von Betty Baumann (M. A.) aus. In ihrem Aufsatz, Genderperformanz in Louise Astons Roman Revolution und Contrerevolution (1849), widmet sie sich einem Text, der als gattungshybrides Produkt aus der Feder einer zeitgenössisch skandalisierten Emanzipationsschriftstellerin ein umstrittenes, scheinbar ausinterpretiertes Kanon-Dasein in der feministischen Germanistik führt. Im konsequenten Rekurs auf bestimmte – populäre wie schwach rezipierte – Theoreme Judith Butlers gelingt Baumann eine ‚lager-übergreifende‘ Neuinterpretation der vermeintlich inkommensurablen genderprogressiven und -restaurativen Bedeutungspotenziale in Astons Roman. Dank dieser neuen theoretischen Zugangsperspektive liest sich die schöne Protagonistin Alice von Rosen, eine über weite Strecken überlegene amazonische Barrikadenkämpferin, Salonière und politische Strippenzieherin, Arbeiterführerin, Fürstengeliebte, erotische Abenteurerin und fürsorgliche Muttergestalt, zunächst als weibliche Utopie und omnipotente Genderperformerin ‚avant la théorie‘, die das zeitgenössische Sample gegensätzlicher ‚Weiblichkeiten‘ und Rollenidentitäten spielend (und verfehlend) wiederholt, durchquert, de-ontologisiert und so jegliche geschlechtlichen Limitierungen subvertiert. Das gleichwohl geschlechtsrollenkonservative ‚Happy-Ending‘ des Romans hingegen ist, so Baumann, mitnichten Ironie, ästhetischer Bruch oder ‚Gender-Backlash‘, sondern, mit Butler und ganz im Geiste des beginnenden (literarischen) ‚Realismus‘, die schlechterdings überlebensnotwendige Konzession an soziale Wirklichkeit, wo ein Leben jenseits normativer Grenzen und geschlechtlicher Identifizierungen hart sanktioniert und verunmöglicht wird. Mit dieser Lesart wirbt auch Baumanns Beitrag für die Leistungsfähigkeit, die jetztzeitigem Geschlechterwissen im Austausch- und Aushandlungsprozess mit tradierten Wissensbeständen und Genderkonstrukten zukommt.