Thèse--Zurich. / Bibliography: p. 93-95.

Thèse--Zurich. / Bibliography: p. 93-95.

Dissertation--Hamburg, 2003. / Bibliogr. p. 211-223.

Thesis (M. Phil.)--University of Hong Kong, 1973. / Typewritten.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1973. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

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This Master's thesis is based on Nathalie Sarraute's book Enfance, published in 1983. One would be tempted to classify this work among other autobiographies ... if the author were not opposed to this idea. Nevertheless, we will attempt to discover what category this book belongs to in our study. / In the introduction we give conventional and classical definitions of both the autobiography and the novel. In the first chapter we analyse Enfance as an autobiography, according to the criteria of certain theoreticians such as Jean Starobinski, Elisabeth Bruss and Philippe Lejeune. We shall also compare it with similar genres, such as memoirs, the fictional autobiography and the selfportrait. In the second chapter we will read this work as a novel, comparing it to other novels by Sarraute as well as to an autobiographical novel. / After having examined the different readings of this work, we conclude that Enfance does not belong to any of the proposed categories in its entirety. The author, therefore, has given us a new genre which finds itself somewhere between an autobiography and a novel.

With her very first book Nathalie Sarraute insisted upon the importance of the tropism. Though most critics acknowledge its importance, only one has used it as a key to his study. This thesis proposes that the tropism is central to the structure of Sarraute’s work and specifically to that of Les Fruits d'Or. The study presupposes that the text of the novel is the ultimate, objective source of evidence. Following the suggestion of a number of French structuralist critics, a distinction is drawn between narrative and fiction, and the elements of each of these aspects of the novel are examined. In Chapter 1, "Narrative,” are studied Narrative Point of View, Narrative Structure, and Style; in Chapter 2, "Aspects of the Fiction," appear the subsections, Plot, Character, Space, and Time. Because of the nature of Les Fruits d'Or a further chapter was needed to explore the content of the work, so that Chapter 3, "Thematic Structure," deals with the principal themes and their interrelationship. The word "tropism" describes the process of adaptation of an organism to its environment. Sarraute uses it to explore the interior movements which her characters experience in responding to events. Thus we find that the external event becomes no more than a catalyst to release those sensations which form the substance of the work. The narrative point of view enables the reader to experience the sensation simultaneously with the character, while the structure reveals a cyclical pattern of conflict and harmony corresponding to that of the tropism. In the style we find both the attempt to create immediacy of dialogue and a language appropriate to the expression of sensation. With the vast expansion of the narrative, the fictional aspects of Les Fruits d'Or become subsidiary. The plot is a skeleton upon which to mould the flesh of the narrative, but it conforms, with its pattern of action and reaction, to the tropism. The characters lose fictional individuality and become extensions of a uniform psychology, which is perceived in terms of stimulus and response. Space and time have lost almost all fictional existence and have become psychological determinants accounting for the pervading sense of enclosure and of mechanical recurrence within the vast, new space-time of the tropistic movements. The "mise en abime" at the centre of Les Fruits d'Or creates a triple level of meaning which is illustrated in three themes. The first, "Art,” corresponds to the plot and describes satirically the cyclical rise and decline of a novel. At the second level, "Appearance and Reality” illustrates the conflict, central to the work, between the visible and the felt, the hard and the soft. The theme, "Individual and Society," reveals the common aspiration for a harmony which is eternally elusive. Relating these themes we find, once again, the pattern of the tropism, a cyclical movement of stimulus and response in which appear the basic rhythms of conflict and re-integration. Our concentration upon the structure of the tropism leads, in conclusion, to the high-lighting of certain aspects of Sarraute's work. The tropism is both a vision of man's inner existence and a vehicle for its expression. It also presents, however, a pessimistic and deterministic view of the world. Demonic imagery predominates but the apocalyptic is seen as a mere sham. Authenticity is never more than a flickering hope. The tropism is common to all Sarraute's work, and her exploration of man's psychological depths is not unique in literature. Her most important contribution to the novel lies in her vision of the inner world as man's true realm of action and in her provision of access to that world by means of the tropism. / Arts, Faculty of / French, Hispanic, and Italian Studies, Department of / Graduate

By 1963, Nathalie Sarraute had written five novels. That same year she was commissioned to write a radio play. She has since then written four more novels and five radio plays. In these new works the reader cannot but recognize manifestations of two of Sarraute's major preoccupations which underlie her literary career that is her concern with the creative process and the problem of communication. These two concerns are obviously related since communication is a lower form of the more concentrated artistic production. This essay will study the two themes in her five radio plays and two of her later novels. In the course of writing novels, Sarraute became more: and more interested in the creative process. While several literary artists have been challenged and intrigued by this topic, it has become an increasingly important theme in Sarraute's works. This essay examines the prerequisites to and the problems raised by the creative process. An analysis of the protagonists of each novel and radio play will help determine to what extent each of them participates in the creative process. As for the allied topic, communication, it is directly related to creativity, as the artist must express his 'vision' in order to confirm his creativity. This essay, therefore, both examines how these protagonists communicate with each other and analyses the limitations to mutual understanding. The thesis is divided into three chapters, each one composed of two sections. Chapter I studies Sarraute's first three radio plays, Le Silence, Le Mensonge and Isma. The first half of the chapter deals with the components of creativity and with the way in which the characters participate in the creative process. The second half is a study of the processes of communication and examines as well how language the most common medium of communication, actually limits mutual understanding. Chapter II follows the same pattern as Chapter I, except that the texts analyzed here will be Entre la vie et la mort and Vous les entendez?. The former novel concentrates on the creative act and the life experience of the artist, while the latter is mainly concerned with artistic merit in the form of aesthetic appreciation. The main focus is on the components of creativity as well as the two people necessary to the creative process, the artist and the recipient of the 'creation'. The second half of the chapter deals with the processes of communication as outlined above, but the medium in this section differs from a radio play to a novel. The last chapter concludes with Sarraute's two latest radio plays, C’est beau and Elle est la. The format is consistent with chapters I and II. However, here, the level of creative potential and the ability to communicate have diminished to the point where these two themes, creativity and communication seem to have been exhausted. / Arts, Faculty of / French, Hispanic, and Italian Studies, Department of / Graduate

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