Il était une fois...l'histoire d'une petite fille curieuse qui, en suivant un lapin blanc, découvre un pays merveilleux habité par d'étranges créatures. Cette fillette et cet univers, nous les connaissons, c'est l'Alice au pays des merveilles de Lewis Carroll. Ce conte a fait du chemin depuis sa parution en 1865 et ses pas l'ont mené jusqu'à aujourd'hui dans les mains d'un pionnier de la littérature d'horreur au Québec: Patrick Senécal. Depuis 1994, cet auteur est de plus en plus présent dans le panorama littéraire québécois, mais c'est son quatrième roman, Aliss, publié en 2000, qui retient ici notre attention. Dans ce roman, Senécal réécrit l'Alice au pays des merveilles de Carroll à l'aide d'un travail intertextuel et de réécriture. L'enjeu de ce mémoire est de découvrir de quelle manière s'opère la réécriture transformant le conte de Carroll en un nouveau texte qui propose une version moderne du sujet. Le récit de Senécal s'inscrit dans ce que Gérard Genette appelle l'hypertextualité : toute relation qui unit un texte (hypertexte) à un autre texte (hypotexte) dont il dérive. Dans nos recherches, ce sont les théories et la typologie intertextuelle qui servent de premiers moyens d'investigation. En sollicitant les catégories de la citation, de la référence et de l'allusion, nous sommes en mesure d'identifier et d'étudier les relations qu'entretient le récit de Senécal avec le conte de Carroll, mais également avec d'autres intertextes. Les théories de la réécriture et les concepts de répétition et de variation qui lui sont relatifs nous permettent d'analyser en profondeur les transformations apportées à Alice au pays des merveilles pour devenir Aliss. La réécriture joue notamment sur trois aspects. On assiste d'abord à un changement générique qui fait que l'on passe du merveilleux à une oeuvre se trouvant à la frontière entre le récit fantastique et le récit d'horreur. C'est notamment l'aspect cauchemardesque et fantastique déjà suggéré dans le conte de Carroll qui devient la source du glissement de genre. Pour parler de réécriture, il faut que l'on en reconnaisse obligatoirement le modèle. L'étude de la transposition des épisodes et des personnages d'Aliss, construits en miroir avec leur double carrollien et influencés par le changement générique, est donc nécessaire à la compréhension du phénomène. Finalement, en plus de s'approprier le conte de Carroll, Senécal intègre dans son récit l'auteur d'Alice au pays des merveilles et en fait un horrible personnage. Dans le dernier chapitre, la manière dont Senécal reprend les éléments caractéristiques de la vie de Carroll et de son oeuvre pour construire ce double subversif est étudiée. ______________________________________________________________________________ MOTS-CLÉS DE L’AUTEUR : Intertextualité, Réécriture, Fantastique, Horreur, Conte, Lewis Carroll, Patrick Senécal, Alice au Pays Des Merveilles, Aliss.

Ce mémoire porte sur la réactualisation de la vanité dans la pratique contemporaine. L'objectif principal est de définir et d'examiner les tenants et les aboutissants de la vanité contemporaine en général et celle pratiquée par les artistes en particulier. La démarche empruntée pour ce mémoire examine le développement de la vanité depuis le XVIIe siècle ainsi que les différents enjeux qui sous-tendent cette stratégie de représentation. Cette étude est divisée en trois chapitres. Le premier chapitre définit les fondements de la vanité historique en se questionnant sur les différents liens qui unissent les arts au thème de la mort. Le deuxième chapitre traite des mutations historiques, sociales, politiques et économiques, et questionne la portée et les enjeux contemporains des figures proposant une apologie du réel, du vécu et du banal. La question de l'autoréflexivité est abordée et met en lumière les contradictions et les paradoxes de la vanité. Le troisième chapitre met l'accent sur une analyse comparative entre les vanités historiques et contemporaines, en vue de comprendre comment les œuvres s'interpellent et se répondent entre elles. L'objectif qui se profile derrière cette étude comparative est de relever les ressemblances et les dissemblances entre les vanités d'hier et celles d'aujourd'hui. Les assises de la vanité sont les mêmes, mais de nouveaux éléments élargissent son répertoire en raison notamment de l'apparition de nouveaux médiums comme ceux de l'installation et de la vidéo. La vanité n'est pas réductible à la représentation d'une image spécifique, par exemple un crâne, elle se vit maintenant à travers l'expérience du déplacement et de la représentation de l'image en mouvement. Les grands conflits mondiaux qui ont ébranlé le XXe siècle ont modifié fondamentalement les conceptions vis-à-vis de la vie et de la mort. La vanité constitue une référence indéniable pour comprendre la nature de ces changements en reflétant les idées véhiculées par la société et la politique. Les travaux de Jean-François Lyotard sur la culture postmoderne jouent un rôle important dans ce regard porté sur les enjeux propres à notre rapport à la nature, à la société et à la culture. Cette étude est une mise en perspective de la vanité contemporaine et réexamine la vanité historique à travers ses avatars contemporains. ______________________________________________________________________________ MOTS-CLÉS DE L’AUTEUR : nature morte, vanité historique, vanité contemporaine, Nelson Henricks, Patrick Bernatchez, Spring Hurlbut

Following recent developments in philosophy of education, this thesis attempts to relate work done in analytic philosophy of education to work done in normative philosophy of education. The first part of the thesis focuses on the analysis of the concept Curriculum. The aim of this analysis is to attempt to clarify Curriculum and show that it is an essentially normative concept. An examination of the nature of this concept raises serious moral issues, e.g. that of the justification of the content of the Curriculum. This issue is dealt with in the second part of the thesis where I investigate two major philosophical attempts to justify the content of the Curriculum (that of R. S. Peters--an approach couched essentially in terms of the intrinsic value of certain activities--and that of P. S. Wilson--an approach couched essentially in terms of the notion of 'what interests someone') and show that the arguments adduced by Peters and Wilson do not satisfactorily resolve the issue, either in their own terms or in terms of the extent to which they speak to practical considerations. Mary Warnock attempts to merge the double rift, between Peters and Wilson, and between theoretical and practical considerations, by arguing that imagination and work are the criteria (equally important) by which decisions as to the content of the Curriculum should be made. This moderate position, although more adequate, is not devoid of problems, especially with regard to the relationship between imagination and work. It is my belief that a fundamental change in the understanding of theory and practice in the field of education must occur before serious advances can be made with regard to the justificatory issue.

La présente thèse vise à analyser le thème de la mélancolie postcoloniale et son utilisation stratégique dans huit romans de Patrick Chamoiseau (Solibo Magnifique, Texaco, Biblique des derniers gestes et Un dimanche au cachot) et d’Émile Ollivier (Mère-Solitude, Passages, Les urnes scellées et La Brûlerie). Sous l’éclairage de la psychanalyse et de la critique postcoloniale, nous définissons cette notion fondamentale comme suit : un psychisme ambivalent entraîné par la perte ou le manque de certains objets d’attachement ––– objets qui sont en l’occurrence la mémoire collective et/ou le lieu d’appartenance identitaire. Comment et pourquoi ce thème se manifeste-t-il dans notre corpus ? Notre hypothèse est que l’utilisation dudit thème serait plus le résultat de leur choix stratégique que l’effet de leur état psychique. C’est afin d’examiner leurs propres problématiques des construction et perception identitaires dans le contexte postcolonial que ces écrivains mettent en récit une telle situation de manque mnémonique et spatial à travers l’écriture romanesque. Afin de mieux élucider la manifestation textuelle de ce thème, nous divisons celui-ci en deux motifs : la « non-histoire » et le « non-lieu ». En nous appuyant principalement sur les réflexions d’Édouard Glissant, de Takayuki Nakamura et de Marc Augé, nous définissons ces concepts comme deux aspects de la mélancolie postcoloniale : situation de manque de la mémoire collective et celle du lieu d’appartenance identitaire. Nos analyses de ces deux motifs sur un plan stylistique, narratologique, structurel et théorique permettent d’examiner de plus près les points de convergence et de divergence entre l’écriture romanesque de Chamoiseau et celle d’Ollivier. En nous fondant sur les quatre études dans la deuxième partie concernant la mise en récit de la non-histoire, nous analysons les utilisations stratégiques de ce motif afin de voir la mise en récit de la « vision prophétique du passé » (É. Glissant). Nous élucidons ensuite en quoi consiste cette vision temporelle paradoxale : choix de genres littéraires tels que le récit policier (Mère-Solitude et Solibo Magnifique) et le récit du retour au pays natal (Les urnes scellées et Bibliques des derniers gestes). Ce choix narratif se réfère toujours à ce que nous nommons la méthode inductive de la narration. La troisième partie, composée encore de quatre études, éclaire les stratégies de la description du lieu. Nous en déduisons une modalité sui generis de la description spatiale que nous appelons, d’après Marc Augé, l’« évocation prophétique d’espaces ». Cette stratégie descriptive se représente notamment par la spatialisation métaphorique de l’identité créole (Texaco et Un dimanche au cachot) ou migrante (Passages et La Brûlerie). En conclusion, nous résumons ces analyses pour en extraire les points communs et divergents entre les utilisations stratégiques de la mélancolie postcoloniale chez Chamoiseau et Ollivier. Entre autres aspects, nous constatons que la mise en récit de la vulnérabilité due à la mélancolie postcoloniale constitue leur positionnement esthétique et éthique afin qu’ils puissent réfléchir aux constructions et perception identitaires au sein du monde actuel devenu plus que jamais flou et fluide. / The purpose of this doctoral thesis is to analyse the theme of postcolonial melancholia and that strategic utilization in eight novels of Patrick Chamoiseau (Solibo Magnifique, Texaco, Biblique des derniers gestes et Un dimanche au cachot) et Émile Ollivier (Mère-Solitude, Passages, Les urnes scellées et La Brûlerie). From the perspective of psychoanalysis and postcolonial criticism, we define this fundamental notion in the following manner : an ambivalent psychology produced by the loss or lack of some objects of attachement ― objects which in this instance are the collective memory and/or the place of belonging. How and why does this theme manifeste itself in our corpus ? Our hypotheses is that the utilization of this theme would be their strategic choice rather than their psychological condition. It is in order to dissect their own problematics of identity construction and perception in the postcolonial contexte that these authors put into narrative form such situations of mnemonic and spatial lack through the writing of these novels. For the purpose of better clarifying the textual appearance of this theme, we divide it into two motifs : the « non-history (non-histoire) » and the « non-place (non-lieu) ». According to the reflections of Édouard Glissant, Takayuki Nakamura and Marc Augé, we define these concepts as being respectively one of the aspects of the postcolonial melancholia : a situation of lack of the collective memory and of the place of belonging. Our analyses of these two motifs from the stylistic, narratological, structural and theorical perspectives make it possible to examine with meticulous care the points of convergence and divergence of the novel writing between Chamoiseau and Ollivier. Based on four studies in the second part which concerns putting in narrative form of the non-history, we deduce that their strategic utilizations of this motif are actualized by « prophetic vision of past » in the glissantian meaning. We clarify subsequently what this paradoxal vision of time consists in : a choice of the literary genres such as the detective novel (Mère-Solitude et Solibo Magnifique) and the return to the native land (Les urnes scellées et Biblique des derniers gestes). This narrative choice is always supported by what we call the inductive method of narrating. The third part, composed again of four individual studies, throws light on strategies of spatial description. We abstract from these studies a way sui generis of the spatial description which we call, in Augé’s words, the « prophetic evocation of spaces ». This descriptive strategy is represented notably by the metaphorical spatialization of creole identity (Texaco et Un dimanche au cachot) or migrant identity (Passages et La Brûlerie). In conclusion, we summarize these eight studies to extract the points of convergence and divergence between the stratégic utilizations of the postcolonial melancholia in Chamoiseau and Ollivier. Prominently, we notice that the work of putting into narrative form the vulnerability due to the postcolonial melancholia constitutes their aesthétical and ethical standpoints so that they can reflect the identity construction and perception within the today’s world which is more blurred and fluid than ever before.

Cette étude sociocritique du professeur de lettres fictif dans le roman québécois de 1995 à 2010 est guidée par les travaux d’André Belleau (Le Romancier fictif), de Roseline Tremblay (L'Écrivain imaginaire) et du Groupe de recherche sur les médiations littéraires et les institutions (Fictions du champ littéraire) portant sur la figuration de l’écrivain. En ce sens, elle examine les manifestations polyphoniques et plurilinguistiques dans des textes romanesques (Mikhaïl Bakhtine) en faisant des figures de l’écrit, telles que définies par Femand Roy, le pivot d’ancrage, textuel et cotextuel, qui constitue les sociotextes, ici les romans du professeur de lettres. L’inéluctable quête de la légitimité de la parole et du savoir de ce "sujet culturel" (Edmond Cros) offr, avec Hadassa (2006) de Myriam Beaudoin, La Blonde de Patrick Nicol (2005) de Patrick Nicol, Qu’est-ce qui passe ici si tard? (1998) de Gabrielle Poulin et La Gloire de Cassiodore (2002) de Monique LaRue, une réponse postmodeme (Janet M. Paterson) à une crise de l’éducation moderne (Hannah Arendt).

Dublin Easter Rising of 1916 is widely recognized as an example of an intersection between nationalism and religion due to its use of the Christian symbolism of redemption via sacrifice. The religious aura, surrounding its leader and main ideologue, Patrick Pearse, was both a source of his posthumous "triumph" - the Irish independence shaped to a large extent by his legacy, and his "black legend" of the spiritual father of the sectarian violence in the twentieth century Irish politics. Due to the high degree of politicization of the debate over Pearse's role in Irish history, his intellectual legacy was rarely treated sine ira et studio. After a delineation of the problematic legacy of Pearse in the context of Irish Studies and the general introduction to the theme of the relations between nationalism and religion, this work proceeds to the re-examination of the place of religion in Pearse's thought. Pearse's conceptualization of Irish nationalism should be perceived as a synthesis emerging from the interplay between his deep indebtedness to the religious mind-frame and the Romantic and modernist influences that shaped the atmosphere of the pre-1914 Europe. It is based on a structural analogy between the Church and the nation. The analogy is created by means of a mechanism of the transposition of...

Esta tese apresenta e analisa excertos da minha tradução não publicada de The Solid Mandala, de Patrick White, em português brasileiro, considerando seus aspectos sóciohistóricos e culturais em três níveis: como tradutor, como revisor da tradução e como crítico literário. A teoria dos polissistemas de Itamar Even-Zohar é adotada para justificar a importância de (re)introduzir Patrick White como representante da Literatura Australiana em nosso sistema literário brasileiro por meio da tradução. Como suporte às capacidades necessárias para realizar a tarefa, o modelo de competências de Amparo Hurtado Albir é apresentado. Quanto aos aspectos culturais, a teoria dos itens específico-culturais de Javier Franco Aixelá é empregada. As traduções publicadas em francês, italiano e espanhol são contrastadas com a minha a fim de identificar inconsistências e/ou soluções, bem como chamar a atenção para desafios que não foram contemplados. A versão em português brasileiro é proposta por meio de excertos selecionados, com os três níveis estando em funcionamento durante o processo de revisão da tradução. Ao buscar fazer a obra de Patrick White ser redescoberta não somente no Brasil, mas também na América Latina e em outros países de língua portuguesa, por meio da tradução, esta tese oferece uma contribuição inédita aos Estudos de Tradução. / This dissertation presents and analyzes excerpts from my unpublished translation of Patrick White’s The Solid Mandala into Brazilian Portuguese considering its socio-historical and cultural aspects at three levels of reading: as a translator, as a revisor/proofreader of the translation and as a literary critic. Itamar Even-Zohar’s Polysystems Theory is adopted to justify the importance of (re)introducing Patrick White as a representative of Australian Literature into our Brazilian system via translation. Supporting the abilities necessary to perform the task, Amparo Hurtado Albir’s model of competences is presented. In regards to cultural aspects, Javier Franco Aixelá’s culture-specific items theory is used. The translations into French, German, Italian and Spanish are contrasted to mine, so as to identify inconsistencies and/or solutions and call attention to challenges which were not addressed. The version in Brazilian Portuguese is conveyed in this dissertation via selected excerpts, with the three levels being at work during the proofreading process of the translation. By attempting to make Patrick White’s oeuvre be rediscovered not only in Brazil, but also in South America and in other Portuguese-speaking countries, through translation, this dissertation presents an innovative contribution to Translation Studies.

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico / Patrick Bateman, o protagonista narrador do romance American Psycho (1991), de Bret Easton Ellis, confunde por ser rico, bonito e educado e, ao mesmo tempo, torturador, assassino e canibal. Mas esta personalidade antagônica não o torna singular. O que o particulariza são as quatro faces que ele apresenta ao longo de sua narrativa: (1) ele consome mercadorias e humanos, (2) compete para ter reconhecimento, (3) provoca horror por suas ações, e (4) não é um narrador confiável. Sendo um yuppie (termo popular usado nos Estados Unidos na década de 1980 para denominar jovens e bem sucedidos profissionais urbanos), Bateman é materialista e hedonista. Ele está imerso em uma sociedade de consumo, fato que o impossibilita de perceber diferenças entre produtos e pessoas. Sendo um narcisista, ele se torna um competidor em busca de admiração. No entanto, Bateman também é um serial killer e suas descrições detalhadas de torturas e assassinatos horrorizam. Por fim, nós leitores duvidamos de sua narrativa ao notarmos inconsistências e ambiguidades. Zygmunt Bauman (2009) afirma que uma sociedade extremamente capitalista transforma tudo que nela existe em algo consumível. Christopher Lasch (1991) afirma que o lendário Narciso deu lugar a um novo, controverso, dependente e menos confiante. A maioria das vítimas de Bateman são membros de grupos socialmente marginalizados, como mendigos, homossexuais, imigrantes e prostitutas, o que o torna uma identidade predatória, segundo Arjun Appadurai (2006). A voz autodiegética e a narrativa incongruente do protagonista, contudo, impedem que confiemos em suas palavras. Estas são as quatro faces que pretendo apresentar deste serial killer / The autodiegetic protagonist Patrick Bateman, in Bret Easton Elliss American Psycho (1991), is a troubling character, for he is highly-educated, wealthy and handsome as well as a torturer, a killer and a cannibal. This antagonistic behavior, nonetheless, does not make him a singular character. The four sides he presents throughout the novel are singular, though: (1) he consumes humans and commodities equally; (2) he competes for recognition and admiration; (3) his acts are horrific; and (4) his narration is unreliable. As a yuppie (a popular term from the 1980s used to define young urban U.S. professionals), Bateman is materialistic and hedonistic. As he lives off the excesses of a consumer society, he is incapable of distinguishing people from products. As a self-absorbed, narcissistic protagonist, he becomes a competitor struggling to get approval from his peers. Nevertheless, Bateman is a serial killer, and his detailed descriptions of tortures and murders are horrifying. Finally, we readers cannot rely on his narrative once we notice ambiguities and divergences. Zygmunt Bauman (2009) posits that an extremely capitalist society forces people to be commodified. Christopher Lasch (1991) asseverates that the old legendary Narcissus gave birth to a new one, paradoxical, dependent and less confident. Most of Batemans victims are socially-marginalized characters, members of minority groups, such as homeless people, homosexuals, immigrants, and prostitutes. As a matter of fact, Bateman may be regarded as having a predatory identity, as defined by Arjun Appadurai (2006). However, this autodiegetic narrator, together with his inconsistent narrative, cannot be entirely trusted. These are the points I want to debate regarding this fourfold serial killer

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / This dissertation integrates research line: Integration, Politics and Frontier, the MA in History of UFSM, and had the support of CAPES, through Stock Exchange DS. The objective focused on characterizing the commercial activity practiced in the Parish of St. Patrick Itaqui, located on the western border of the province of Rio Grande de São Pedro, Brazil, between 1850 and 1870. The commercial activity during this period involved a multitude of activities that have developed in local character, involving merchants, traders and moneylenders, who stood out in this border town, being identified from the records in the primary sources of legal and administrative character. Exploratory research and analytical documentary sources as the Common Shares Civil and Crime, Post-Mortem inventories, records of Notary Notary and Attorney Itaqui, found in the Public Archives of Porto Alegre, were added to the lists of Customs and Reports Mayor of Itaqui, located in the Historical Archive of Porto Alegre, to describe an activity marked by diversification of market practices and strategies implemented by merchants, traders and brokers in these spaces. It was observed that the large influx market, with the entrance of the harbor of St. Patrick Parish Itaqui, allowed the rise of characters like Manuel Marenco and Emigdio Bonorino, which began to take advantage of the opportunities afforded by maintaining links and ties political and economic elites in these spaces, to discuss plots of power at the local level. The capital that transited in free space would promote the promotion of commercial sectors in areas of wholesale and retail dry goods, practiced sales and shops, plus the actions of domestic and foreign businessmen linked to narrower markets involving credits, loans, land and cattle. Itaqui these contacts can enlarge spaces of economic exploitation allowing the performance of a number of agents in the expanded flows and local spaces / A presente dissertação integra a linha de pesquisa: Integração, Política e Fronteira, do Mestrado em História da UFSM, e contou com o apoio do CAPES, por meio da Bolsa DS. O objetivo centrou-se em caracterizar a atividade comercial praticada na Paróquia de São Patrício de Itaqui, localizada na fronteira oeste da Província do Rio Grande de São Pedro, Brasil, entre 1850 e 1870. A atividade mercantil nesse período envolvia uma multiplicidade de atividades que se desenvolveram em caráter local, envolvendo comerciantes, negociantes e prestamistas, que se destacaram nessa localidade de fronteira, sendo identificados a partir dos registros nas fontes primárias, de caráter jurídico e administrativo. A pesquisa exploratória e analítica de fontes documentais como as Ações Ordinárias Cível e Crime, Inventários Post-Mortem, Registros Notariais do Tabelionato e Procurações de Itaqui, encontrados no Arquivo Público de Porto Alegre, se somaram às Listas de Alfândega e Relatórios da Câmara Municipal de Itaqui, localizadas no Arquivo Histórico de Porto Alegre, para descrever uma atividade mercantil marcada pela diversificação das práticas e estratégias implementadas por comerciantes, negociantes e intermediadores nesses espaços. Observou-se que o grande fluxo mercantil, tendo como porta de entrada o porto da Paróquia de São Patrício de Itaqui, permitiu a ascensão de personagens como Manoel Marenco e Emigdio Bonorino, que passaram a se aproveitar das oportunidades concedidas pela manutenção de ligações e laços políticos e econômicos com as elites nesses espaços, para discutir parcelas de poder a nível local. Os capitais que livre transitavam nesse espaço promoveriam a dinamização de setores comerciais em ramos de atacado e varejo de secos e molhados, praticado em vendas e lojas, além da atuação de negociantes nacionais e estrangeiros ligados a mercados mais restritos envolvendo créditos, empréstimos, terras e gados. Desses contatos Itaqui consegue ampliar espaços de exploração econômica permitindo a atuação de um numero ampliado de agentes nos fluxos e espaços de poder local.

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico / Patrick Bateman, o protagonista narrador do romance American Psycho (1991), de Bret Easton Ellis, confunde por ser rico, bonito e educado e, ao mesmo tempo, torturador, assassino e canibal. Mas esta personalidade antagônica não o torna singular. O que o particulariza são as quatro faces que ele apresenta ao longo de sua narrativa: (1) ele consome mercadorias e humanos, (2) compete para ter reconhecimento, (3) provoca horror por suas ações, e (4) não é um narrador confiável. Sendo um yuppie (termo popular usado nos Estados Unidos na década de 1980 para denominar jovens e bem sucedidos profissionais urbanos), Bateman é materialista e hedonista. Ele está imerso em uma sociedade de consumo, fato que o impossibilita de perceber diferenças entre produtos e pessoas. Sendo um narcisista, ele se torna um competidor em busca de admiração. No entanto, Bateman também é um serial killer e suas descrições detalhadas de torturas e assassinatos horrorizam. Por fim, nós leitores duvidamos de sua narrativa ao notarmos inconsistências e ambiguidades. Zygmunt Bauman (2009) afirma que uma sociedade extremamente capitalista transforma tudo que nela existe em algo consumível. Christopher Lasch (1991) afirma que o lendário Narciso deu lugar a um novo, controverso, dependente e menos confiante. A maioria das vítimas de Bateman são membros de grupos socialmente marginalizados, como mendigos, homossexuais, imigrantes e prostitutas, o que o torna uma identidade predatória, segundo Arjun Appadurai (2006). A voz autodiegética e a narrativa incongruente do protagonista, contudo, impedem que confiemos em suas palavras. Estas são as quatro faces que pretendo apresentar deste serial killer / The autodiegetic protagonist Patrick Bateman, in Bret Easton Elliss American Psycho (1991), is a troubling character, for he is highly-educated, wealthy and handsome as well as a torturer, a killer and a cannibal. This antagonistic behavior, nonetheless, does not make him a singular character. The four sides he presents throughout the novel are singular, though: (1) he consumes humans and commodities equally; (2) he competes for recognition and admiration; (3) his acts are horrific; and (4) his narration is unreliable. As a yuppie (a popular term from the 1980s used to define young urban U.S. professionals), Bateman is materialistic and hedonistic. As he lives off the excesses of a consumer society, he is incapable of distinguishing people from products. As a self-absorbed, narcissistic protagonist, he becomes a competitor struggling to get approval from his peers. Nevertheless, Bateman is a serial killer, and his detailed descriptions of tortures and murders are horrifying. Finally, we readers cannot rely on his narrative once we notice ambiguities and divergences. Zygmunt Bauman (2009) posits that an extremely capitalist society forces people to be commodified. Christopher Lasch (1991) asseverates that the old legendary Narcissus gave birth to a new one, paradoxical, dependent and less confident. Most of Batemans victims are socially-marginalized characters, members of minority groups, such as homeless people, homosexuals, immigrants, and prostitutes. As a matter of fact, Bateman may be regarded as having a predatory identity, as defined by Arjun Appadurai (2006). However, this autodiegetic narrator, together with his inconsistent narrative, cannot be entirely trusted. These are the points I want to debate regarding this fourfold serial killer