Thèse numérisée par la Direction des bibliothèques de l'Université de Montréal.

Thesis advisor: Richard Kearney / This dissertation asks what it means to be faithful to the friend. From Aristotle onward friendship has often been taken as the foundation of political life, but as it is a private relation that excludes many fellow citizens, fidelity to the friend may conflict with the duties of citizenship and endanger the political realm. What is more, one can never be perfectly faithful to one’s friend, so is true friendship impossible? I argue that friendship, though always a risk, directs us toward a justice that is higher than the political. Moreover, friendship is a great good that is suited to our finitude. While our finitude renders perfect fidelity impossible, it is also the horizon within which alone friendship can take place. Friendship is possible for those who admit its impossibility, who love precisely that the other – whether the other person or a language – escapes them.Chapter 1 considers selected ancient and medieval examinations of friendship in order to clarify friendship’s unstable place in the borderlands of hostility and hospitality. Only the dispossession of the self opens it to alterity. Thus if friendship is possible, it is possible only between strangers, not citizens secure in their ipseity. To bind people into a community, it must also shatter open any community in which they believe themselves to be comfortably at home. Chapter 2 further explores, in light of Emmanuel Levinas’ ethics, the conflict between friendship and one’s obligation to others. Levinas posits a self who is absolutely responsible for every other according to an asymmetrical ethical relation; how then can one prefer the friend to others? I reply that friendship serves as a forceful reminder of the singularity of the other and of the inadequacy of the comparisons among people that politics must employ to determine whose interests will win out. Friendship is not, however, only a signpost that points to ethics: it is a good that needs no justification to be worthwhile. Chapter 3 proposes that friendship arises from our finitude. Drawing on Emmanuel Falque’s work, I maintain that finitude is a positive good that is suited to humans. Friends translate the world for each other – but what of the fact that translation is always unfaithful? It is impossible, as Jacques Derrida has emphasized, to maintain infinite fidelity to the friend, but this impossibility is constitutive of friendship. Stepping beyond this horizon would not lead to better friendships but would destroy the possibility of friendship by taking us outside the limits that constitute humanity, when it is as humans that we love each other in friendship. Chapter 4 further investigates the possibility of friendship by taking up the suggestion, raised in Marcel Proust’s In Search of Lost Time, that friendship is an illusion because it pretends to offer knowledge of another even though such knowledge is impossible. I argue that a careful reading of the Search reveals that writing itself functions as an act of friendship: the narrator discovers that through writing his world can encounter the worlds of others. True friendship is a relation across absence. Finally, chapter 5 shows how the promise of fidelity to the friend constitutes the self: the promise creates the very world that the self is called to translate for the friend. I conclude that although one can never achieve perfect fidelity to the friend, this is no reason to despair of fidelity: the very infidelity of the self’s witness to the friend may still bear witness to the friend’s irreplaceability. Bearing witness to the friend is a task to be undertaken in fear and trembling but also in gratitude and joy, for friendship is a great good of our existence within finitude. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2020. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Philosophy.

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La présente étude est destinée à l’éclaircissement de la représentation de l’affaire Dreyfus dans l’oeuvre de Proust, de Jean Santeuil à la Recherche du temps perdu. L’évolution du thème est étudiée à travers une analyse philologique et historique de cinq grands textes : Jean Santeuil (rédigé entre 1895 et 1899) ; « Sentiments filiaux d’un parricide » (1907) ; « ‘L’affaire Lemoine’ par Michelet » (1908) ; Sodome et Gomorrhe I ; le cycle d’Albertine (La Prisonnière et Albertine disparue). La première partie propose une étude critique des treize fragments de Jean Santeuil comportant des références explicites à l’affaire Dreyfus. La seconde partie décrit la transformation de la mémoire de celle-ci dans les écrits de 1907 à 1922, en établissant l’influence de Michelet sur la représentation de la victime dans « Sentiments filiaux d’un parricide » ; l’apparition du point de vue antisémite de l’Affaire et la constitution du parallélisme entre juifs et homosexuels dans « ‘L’affaire Lemoine’ par Michelet » ; l’achèvement du dreyfusisme proustien dans Sodome et Gomorrhe I ; la transposition critique des discours dreyfusards, antidreyfusards et antisémites dans le cycle d’Albertine ; l’influence de la Première Guerre mondiale (espionite, chasse aux traîtres, mobilisation des juifs) sur l’écriture de l’affaire Dreyfus dans la Recherche. L’examen chronologique et événementiel est complété par l’analyse de deux métaphores optiques employées pour décrire les juifs à l’époque de l’Union sacrée sous l’angle de l’histoire juive de longue durée : le kaléidoscope social et les rayons X. / This study proposes to clarify the representation of the Dreyfus affair in the works of Proust, from Jean Santeuil to À la recherche du temps perdu. The evolution of the theme is studied through a philological and historical examination of five important writings: Jean Santeuil (written between 1895 and 1899), « Sentiments filiaux d’un parricide » (1907), « ‘L’affaire Lemoine’ par Michelet » (1908), Sodome et Gomorrhe I and the Albertine cycle (La Prisonnière and Albertine disparue). The first part is a critical study of thirteen fragments of Jean Santeuil containing explicit references to the Dreyfus affair. The second part describes the transformation of the memory of the Affair in the writings composed between 1907 and 1922, demonstrating Michelet’s influence on the representation of the victim in « Sentiments filiaux d’un parricide », the appearance of the anti-Semitic interpretation of the Affair and the constitution of a parallelism between Jews and homosexuals in « ‘L’affaire Lemoine’ par Michelet », the achievement of Proust’s Dreyfusism in Sodome et Gomorrhe I, the critical transposition of Dreyfusard, anti-Dreyfusard and anti-Semitic discourses in the Albertine cycle, the influence of the World War I (spy paranoia, traitor hunts, mobilization of the Jews) on the description of the Dreyfus Affair in the Recherche. The chronological and factual examination is completed by the analysis of two optical metaphors used to describe the Jews in France at the time of the ‘Union sacrée’ from the perspective of long-term Jewish history: the social kaleidoscope and the X-rays.

Analisando alguns fragmentos de À lombre des jeunes filles en fleurs de Marcel Proust e articulando-os ao conjunto de À la Recherche du temps perdu, esta dissertação de mestrado destaca alguns aspectos do processo de criação do narrador proustiano. Assim, da apresentação teatral da personagem Berma ao encontro com a personagem Albertine no litoral de Balbec, seguimos o herói a procura da sua vocação. Para isso, adotamos conceitos da crítica genética e problematizamos as instâncias do herói, do personagem, do narrador e do escritor que determinam a elaboração da escritura e o lugar privilegiado que ocupa o leitor diante do texto. Como resultado deste percurso, propusemos a idéia de Balbertinec como um recorte de leitura que, articulando dois signos marcantes deste volume da Recherche - Albertine e Balbec -, permite prever aspectos singulares do processo de criação do narrador, onde o leitor da Recherche apreende um novo sentido de literatura. / Analysing some fragments of À lombre des jeunes filles en fleurs of Marcel Proust and articulating them with the ensemble of À la Recherche du temps perdu, this masters dissertation underlines some aspects of the criation process of the Proustian narrator.Thus, from the theatrical presentation of the character Berm to the meeting with the character Albertine on the coast of Balbec, we follow the hero in search of his/her nature. In order to do that, we adopted concepts of the genetic criticism and questioned the instances of the hero, the character, the narrator and the writer which determine the production of the writing and the privileged place occupied by the reader before the text. As a result of this process, we considered the idea of Balbertinec as a fashion of reading that, articulating two remarkable signs of this volume of Recherche, Albertine and Balbec, allows us to infer distinctive characteristics of Prousts creative process, according to which the active reader of Recherche acquires a new meaning towards literature.

Le Cahier 46 de Marcel Proust est un cahier particulièrement important dans la genèse du roman proustien. Écrit principalement dans les années 1914 et 1915, il est un cahier de transition entre le roman d’avant-guerre et le roman tel qu’il sera publié après la guerre. Cette étude du Cahier 46 [volume I] qui s’appuie sur une transcription diplomatique intégrale du Cahier [volume II] est à la fois génétique et littéraire. Elle entend montrer que ce cahier est au cœur des bouleversements du roman, le lieu de naissance de cette prolifération interne qui a fait d’un roman en trois volumes un roman fleuve, le lieu aussi où l’on assiste à la métamorphose d’Albertine. Non seulement elle occupe une place de plus en plus importante dans l’œuvre mais surtout elle change de nature. D’une fille dont le héros « s’amourache » [Cahier 13, folio 28 r°], elle devient un personnage au destin tragique, nœud d’une histoire sans cesse réécrite qui permet de relier les grands thèmes du roman - la mort, la culpabilité, Gomorrhe et l’homosexualité - et de relire les relations du héros avec les personnages de la mère et de la grand-mère. L’analyse génétique du Cahier 46, écrit dans ce moment de crise, permet de poser quelques grands principes et de proposer une analyse précise de la pratique du brouillon de Proust ainsi que de mettre en évidence la réorganisation du roman à partir de l’année 1913 qui signe l’apparition d’Albertine. Ces éléments conduisent à une interprétation littéraire de cette métamorphose du roman sous la pression du personnage : le passage d’un roman des filles à un roman d’Albertine. / The Cahier 46 of Marcel Proust is one of the key exercise books to understand the growth of A la recherche du temps perdu. Proust wrote this exercise book mainly between 1914 and 1915. As such, it makes the transition from the novel as it had been planned by Proust before the First World War to the novel as it has been actually published after the war. Our study is based on a complete transcription of this exercise book [volume II] and proposes a literary criticism of it [volume I]. More precisely, the aim of the thesis is to show this exercise book is one of the focal points of the deep framework changes in A la recherche du temps perdu during the war: the former three volumes of the novel become a large novel mainly because of the metamorphosis of Albertine’s character. Within Cahier 46, Albertine’s character takes a twofold feature. Firstly, this character becomes one of the main characters of the novel. Secondly, the role of Albertine dramatically changes. Cahier 46 makes it possible to understand how the story which was still before 1914 only the one of a boy who falls in love with a girl becomes the one of a tragic story of love, continuously written and rewritten by Proust: a story about death, suspicion, culpability, Gomorrah and homosexuality. First, this study presents general principles and precise analyses about how Proust wrote, that is to say Proust’s practice of manuscripts. It then shows how the introduction of Albertine’s character results in deep changes in the framework of the novel after 1913. Finally, all these elements allow us to focus on a literary interpretation of these metamorphoses.

Esta tese traz a análise das personagens arrivistas femininas das obras romanescas de Machado de Assis e Marcel Proust. São elas: Guiomar, Helena e Sofia, de A mão e a luva, Helena e Quincas Borba, respectivamente, e Odette e Madame Verdurin de À la recherche du temps perdu. Em A Mão e a luva e Helena, Machado engendra as tramas no Rio de Janeiro dos anos 1850, período estável do Segundo Reinado. A trajetória ascensional de Guiomar e Helena, em uma época de pouca mobilidade social, justifica-se pelo fato de serem personagens singulares, dotadas de grande habilidade. Aqui, o destino repara o equívoco do nascimento desprivilegiado. Quincas Borba, por outro lado, ambientado entre 1867 e 1871, apresenta uma sociedade mais dinâmica e fluida. A mudança gradativa de classes operada por Sofia e Cristiano Palha se deve ao grande senso de oportunismo nos negócios e às ações pouco escrupulosas do casal. De todo modo, as narrativas brasileiras tratam predominantemente do desejo de pertencer à burguesia rica. Em À la recherche du temps perdu, Proust mostra uma sociedade complexa e estratificada, em que a burguesia e a nobreza, a despeito da Revolução Francesa, continuam divididas em várias subcategorias na Belle Époque. Por isso, Odette e Madame Verdurin têm de cumprir muitas etapas no decorrer de quatro décadas para conquistarem seu espaço no faubourg Saint-Germain. Considerando as diferenças históricas e espaciais dos romances brasileiros e franceses, analisamos a construção das figuras femininas citadas através do cotejamento de trechos das obras. Com isso, foi-nos possível apontar pontos de aproximação como o casamento, a maternidade e a importância dos salões, vistos sob os pontos de vista das condições sócio-culturais de cada país. / This thesis provides an analysis of female social-climber characters in the novels of Machado de Assis and of Marcel Proust. They are: Guiomar, Helena, and Sofia, from A mão e a luva, Helena, and Quincas Borba, respectively; and Odette and Madame Verdurin, from À la recherche du temps perdu. In A Mão e a luva and in Helena, Machado unwinds his plot in the Rio de Janeiro of the 1850s, a stable period of the Second Reign. The upwards trajectory of Guiomar and Helena during a time of limited social mobility is justified by the fact that they are singular characters, gifted with great abilities. Here, destiny corrects the mistake of underprivileged birth. Quincas Borba, on the other hand, set between 1867 and 1871, presents a more dynamic and fluid society. The gradual changes in class accomplished by Sofia and Cristiano Palha is a result of the couples enormous sense of opportunism in business and the relative lack of scruples in their actions. Regardless, the Brazilian stories deal predominately with the desire to belong to the wealthy bourgeoisie. In À la recherche du temps perdu, Proust shows a complex and stratified society where the bourgeoisie and nobility, in spite of the French Revolution, continue to be divided into various categories of the Belle Époque. As a result, Madame Verdurin has to pass through many stages during a period of four decades to conquer her space in the faubourg of Saint-Germain. Considering the historical and spatial differences between the Brazilian and French novels, we analyze the construction of the abovementioned female characters through a comparison of excerpts from the works. In so doing, it was possible for us to show points of similarity, such as marriage and maternity and the importance of salons, viewed through the eyes of each countrys sociocultural conditions.

La connaissance poétique est l’appréhension nouvelle du monde sur un mode familier. Elle apparaît à travers la subjectivation de l’objet : le sujet projette sur l’objet ce qu’il en perçoit mais aussi sa propre subjectivité ; il en forme une connaissance subjectivée. Dans la Recherche, la théorie de l’image est une théorie de la connaissance poétique du monde restituée par l’écrivain dans l’image. En mettant en relation deux objets dans l’image, Proust reproduit le rapprochement du sujet avec le monde qu’est la subjectivation. On peut ainsi distinguer les images proustiennes selon les différents « cercles familiers » qu’elles constituent. Ils expriment différentes formes de familiarité avec le monde : la parenté (pour la ressemblance), le voisinage (pour la contiguïté) et l’affinité (pour la transposition). La connaissance poétique se restitue aussi à travers l’écriture de l’image. Le style manifeste une vision plus générale du monde qui imprègne chaque subjectivation. Les images proustiennes révèlent deux esthétiques principales. L’une est baroque, fondée sur l’imagination : elle évoque l’enfance et transmet une conception de la vie joyeuse et légère. L’autre est romantique, lyrique, et montre un cœur souffrant. À travers l’image opère donc un rapprochement général (entre objet et sujet, entre les composantes de l’image, entre deux visions du monde), caractéristique de la connaissance poétique, mais aussi un rapprochement particulier entre Proust et son lecteur. L’image proustienne utilise notamment pleinement les mécanismes d’intersubjectivité de l’esprit. En rendant ainsi la connaissance poétique, l’image fait de la Recherche l’œuvre de l’intime. / Poetic knowledge is the new grasp of the world on a familiar way. It appears through the subjectification of the object: the subject projects onto the object his perception of it and also his own subjectivity; he develops a subjectified knowledge. In the Recherche, theory of image is a theory of the poetic knowledge of the world, translated by the writer in the image. By linking two objects in the image, Proust reproduces the reconciliation of the subject with the world that is subjectification. One can distinguish the Proustian images by the various "familiar circles" they constitute, which show various forms of familiarity with the world: kinship (for resemblance), neighborhood (for adjacency), and affinity (for transposition). Poetic knowledge also appears through the writing of the image. The style shows a more general worldview that permeates every subjectification. The Proustian images reveal two main aesthetics. One is baroque, based on the imagination: it evokes childhood, and transmits a joyful and carefree view of life. The other one is romantic, lyrical, and shows a suffering heart. Through the image thus operates a general reconciliation (between object and subject, between the components of the image, between two worldviews), which is a feature of poetic knowledge, but also a special connection between Proust and his reader. Especially, the Proustian image fully uses the mechanisms of intersubjectivity of the mind. By rendering poetic knowledge, the image makes of the Recherche the work of intimacy.