Les œuvres de l'écrivain française Lydie Salvayre et des cinéastes américains Tim Burton et Terry Gilliam présentent une même dénonciation de la société du simulacre à travers une esthétique grotesque. Ils contestent dans leurs œuvres la pratique de la novlangue, celle du politiquement correct et le mélange de la réalité avec la fiction. Le fonctionnement dialectique du grotesque et sa capacité à procurer un vertige étonnant lui permet de rendre visible ces contradictions. La modification de l'imaginaire par la société de consommation et du simulacre les préoccupent particulièrement, car les auteurs observent que la transformation des signes en simples signifiants, dont le postmodernisme illustre le fonctionnement, conduisent l'individu à avoir un rapport déformé à la réalité, à la conscience historique et au symbole. Le grotesque est cette esthétique qui leur permet de former des mélanges dans leurs œuvres en préservant l'identité des signifiés et de restaurer ainsi un rapport à l'Histoire et au symbole. Le grotesque est cette esthétique qui permet le mélange sans équivalence, car elle donne à voir les contraires et leur confère du sens. Les auteurs lient leurs œuvres grotesques au mythe, cette fiction particulière qui permet d'avoir un rapport instinctif à la connaissance par le biais d'images particulièrement fortes. Le grotesque, dans sa dimension anthropologique et ontologique, réhabilite en définitive des fictions qui échappent aux problématiques du simulacre. / The works of Lydie Salvayre, American movie directors Tim Burton and Terry Gilliam present a similar criticism of a society of simulacrum, by their use of the aesthetically grotesque. In their work, they question the use of newspeak, of the politically correct, and the mixing of reality and fiction. The dialectical working of the grotesque and its ability to produce an astonishing sense of vertigo enables it to bring out these contradictions. They are particularly concerned by the extent to which a society of consumption and simulacrum has modified the imaginary. These autors have observed that the transformation of signs into mere signifiers, something the workings of which are demonstrated in postmodernism, leads the individual to have a distorted relationship with reality, historical awareness and the symbol. The grotesque is that aesthetic form which allows them to make mixes in their work whilst preserving the meaning of the signified and which thereby allows them to restore a relationship to history and the symbol. The grotesque is that esthetic form which allows them to make mixes with no equivalent, since it shows opposites whilst conferring sense on them. The autors link their grotesque works to myth, that kind of fiction which enables us to have a instinctive relationship to knowledge by the means of particularly strong images. When all is said and done, the grotesque, in its anthropological and ontological dimension, reinstates a fiction which avoids the problems of simulacrum.

La théâtralité de la mort chez les deux artistes flamands Michel de Ghelderode et Jan Fabre est basée sur un corpus de textes. Découpée en trois domaines constitutifs du théâtre - littérature, dramaturgie, esthétique - l'objectif de ma recherche est centré sur un dialogue entre un art dramatique et un art postdramatique, de façon à confronter ou confondre certains éléments des deux champs théâtraux à travers la théâtralité de la mort. Le domaine littéraire explore le discours des deux auteurs, depuis le titre de leurs oeuvres jusqu'à leurs genres, en passant par les micro et les macrostructures du texte, montrant que la littérature de la mort se reconnaît aussi bien à la forme qu'aux motifs de l'écriture. Les renversements carnavalesques propres aux pièces des écrivains en dépit de leurs différences fondamentales se retrouvent dans le domaine dramaturgique. Il se concentre sur des personnages, des espaces et des temps de la mort en faisant ressortir ce qui relève du jeu dramatique et du jeu performatif. La notion du double, dans le champ de l'esthétique, est étudiée à partir du corps et à partir du processus créatif des deux poètes; le miroir du tableau sur le théâtre est une constante de ce travail. Enfin, la notion duale est opposée à l'universel que représente la figure christique, porteuse du grotesque par la résurrection. Malgré les coupures entre les diverses formes d'expressions artistiques, pour Jan Fabre il a continuité entre un langage visuel et un langage textuel, telle une continuité entre vie et mort. / The theatricality of death at both Flemish artists Michel de Ghelderode and Jan Fabre is based on acorpus of texts. Divided into three constituent fields of theater - literature, dramaturgy, aesthetic -the objective of my research is focused on a dialogue between a dramatic and a post-dramatic art, inorder to confront or confuse some theatrical elements of both fields through theatricality death. Theliterary part explores the linguistics of the authors texts, from the title of their works to their genres,including the micro and macrostructures, showing that the literature of death is as well in the shapeas in the motives of the writing. The carnavalesc reversals particular to the writers' plays in spite oftheir fundamental differences is found in the dramaturgy field. It focuses on characters, spaces andtimes of death by highlighting what is dramatic play and performative play. The concept of doublein the aesthetics part, is observed through the body and the creative process of the poets; the mirorof the painting on theater is a constant in these works. Finally the double is opposed to the universalthat the christik figure represents, carrier the grotesc by the resurrection. If there are gaps betweenthe various forms of artistic expressions, for Jan Fabre there is continuance between a visuallanguage and a textual language, such continuity between life and death.

This dissertation explores a history of the grotesque and its meaning in art and literature along with those of its related term, the arabesque, since their co-existence, specifically in literature, is later treated by a well-known nineteenth-century American writer in Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque- Theories or views of the grotesque (used in literature), both in Europe and America, belong to twelve theorists of different eras, ranging from the sixteenth century to the present period, especially Modernism (approximately from 1910 to 1945)--Rabelais, Hegel, Scott, Wright, Hugo, Symonds, Ruskin, Santayana, Kayser, Bakhtin, (William Van) O'Connor, and Spiegel. My study examines the grotesque in American literature, as treated by both nineteenth-century writers--Irving, Poe, Hawthorne, and, significantly, by modernist writers--Anderson, West, and Steinbeck in Northern (or non-Southern) literature; Faulkner, McCullers, and (Flannery) O'Connor in Southern literature. I survey several novels and short stories of these American writers for their grotesqueries in characterization and episodes. The grotesque, as treated by these earlier American writers is often despised, feared, or mistrusted by other characters, but is the opposite in modernist fiction.

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This study seeks to question old and common misconceptions concerning the american literary genre Southern Gothic. By using the carnival theory, the theory about the "grotesque" by Mikhail Bakhtin, this study seeks to explain and reach a better understanding of some works defined as Southern Gothic - so called because of the significance that is attributed in the genre to the geographical location in the southern United states. This study analyzes carnivalesque transgression in short story collections by Flannery O´Connor, Eudora Welty and Dorothy Allison, and the main purpose is to investigate if the genre really is as dark as it is often described by critics; pessimistic, absurdly shocking and without any affirmation regarding the beauty and strength of life.  Transgression is here defined as the transgression made by fictional characters when their bodies and their actions refuses to conform to the norms established by "the official world". By using Bachtins terminology my main thesis is to investigate positive and life-affirming transgression in A Good Man is Hard to Find, A Curtain of Green and Trash. The study further investigates the ways in which the bodies of the fictional characters become grotesque and in what way the characters through their behaviour become carnivalesque. The short stories are also compared with eachother from both a tematic and historic perspective: can changes through time be observed? Does the grotesque form or expression change in any way from Welty to Allison? The conclusion of the study is that both grotesque and carnivalesque forms can be found in the short stories, and it can be considered carnivalesue in a true Bakhtinian way, as both positive and affirming. The study also finds that the grotesque tends to become more positive and life-affirming through time.

Le mot grotesque est mal défini ; il recouvre, comme nom et adjectif, des réalités très disparates. Aussi, comment peut-il être utilisé pour désigner un système cohérent de représentation  ? Quel est le point commun à toutes les formes du grotesque ?Dans un premier temps, il s’agit de présenter un panorama des références nécessaires à une description synthétique des motifs du grotesque. Deux analyses se sont particulièrement révélées stimulantes dans le processus : celles de Wolfgang Kayser et Mikhaïl Bakhtine. Analyses qui ne datent que d’environ un demi-siècle et reposent sur un corpus littéraire (respectivement Kafka et Rabelais). Puis il sera question des tenants et aboutissants du grotesque en fonction des contraintes et possibilités des différents mediums de l’art contemporain. Ainsi, dans quelle mesure les outils critiques de la littérature peuvent-ils être féconds pour la compréhension de ces formes plastiques ?Dans un second temps, il apparaît que le corps humain et ses acceptions sociale, culturelle, psychologique, ait pris une place prépondérante dans la production plastique du XXe siècle en ce sens que le support se fait documentaire. En quoi cette politique du corps s’est-elle structurée à un moment ou un autre sur le motif du grotesque ?Ensuite, il s’agit de produire une typologie des manifestations du grotesque et des réactions qu’elles suscitent. Dans quelle mesure ces émotions ont-elles leur part dans une compréhension de l’individu en tant que tel et de son mode de vie, des rapports de pouvoir et des aspirations qui les traversent ?Enfin, le grotesque semble se perdre dans les tentatives de définition, notamment en fournissant des modèles esthétiques hétéroclites. Comment serait-il possible toutefois de solidifier ses expressions en des formes théorisées distinctes ? Ainsi une théorie des formes du grotesque, aussi disparates qu’elles puissent être, et en évolution permanente, pourrait bien être un outil incontournable pour une appréhension sensible de l’art contemporain et ainsi peut-être s’en approprier les motifs. / The word grotesque has never been accurately defined. As a noun and an adjective, it covers disparate concepts. Therefore how could it be used to designate a coherent representational system? What is the common point between all the forms of the grotesque?Firstly we’ll present a comprehensive overview of the references necessary to the description of grotesque patterns. In this process, two analysis have been particularly stimulating : those of w k and m b. These analysis are less than fifty years and are respectively based on Kafka and Rabelais’ body of literature.We’ll then talk about the ins and outs of the grotesque depending on both the possibilities and the constraints of contemporary artistic mediums. We’ll also explain how literary critical tools can help understand the art forms of the grotesque. Secondly we’ll see how the human body - as well as its social, cultural and psychological acceptions - have become predominant in the artistic production of the 20th century. How have these acceptions sooner or later edified a conceptual body around the notion of grotesque ?Thirdly we’ll try and produce a typology of the manifestations of the grotesque as well as a typology of the reactions it has generated. To what extent have these emotions played a part in the understanding of the human being and its lifestyle? Finally we’ll see how the grotesque tends to loose its meaning when we attempt to define it. It is especially the case when those attempts try to provide aesthetic benchmarks. However, could it be possible to consolidate those analysis and turn them into several distinctive theories?The forms of the grotesque are diverse, disparate and in constant evolution. However a theory of these forms is a tool not only indispensable to the comprehension of contemporary art but also necessary to the understanding of its patterns.

O trabalho objetiva uma análise do corpo grotesco enquanto elemento construtivo da poética de três autores do início do século XX: Mário de Sá-Carneiro (Portugal); Augusto dos Anjos (Brasil) e Ramón López Velarde (México). Os escritores foram escolhidos pelo fato de, na mesma época, abalarem as respectivas sociedades em que viveram com produções poéticas inovadoras. Baseando-se nisto, a abordagem é feita a partir das teorias de W. Kayser, sobre o grotesco romântico e Mikhail Bakhtin sobre o realismo grotesco. A pesquisa identificou a necessidade de relacionar o corpo grotesco com a teoria do Decadentismo, pois esta estética constitui uma das primeiras rupturas rumo ao que convencionou chamar de modernidade. Por fim, analisamos a definitiva entrada do grotesco no cânone dos três países e a relação existente entre a categoria literária (e o corpo grotesco) com a poesia moderna. / The present work aims to analyse the grotesque body as a constructive element in the poetics of the three authors from the begining of the XXth Century: Mario de Sá Carneiro (Portugal), Augusto dos Anjos (Brazil) and Ramón López Velarde (Mexico). These writers were selected due to the fact that they had shocked their respectives societies creating innovative poetics elements. Based on that, the approach was done from the theories of W. Kayser concerning the romantic grotesque and Mikhail Bakhtin, regarding the grotesque realism. The research identify the need to relate the grotesque body to the Decadentism theory because this esthetics can be considered as one of the first ruptures towards what is known as Modernity. Also, the work identify the admission of the grotesque in the canon of these three mentioned countries as well as the relationship between the literary cathegory (and the grotesque body) and the Modern Poetry.

C’est un fait, les théologiens français font le plus souvent abstraction dans leurs travaux, des oeuvres littéraires. La situation est particulièrement préoccupante pour les écrivains contemporains agnostiques, témoins de notre temps, qui interrogent radicalement, au nom de la complexité, nos catégories habituelles d’analyse. Les romans de Claude Simon se prêtent-ils à une réception théologique ? On pourrait a priori en douter, mais doit-on s’interdire d’interroger une oeuvre novatrice, distinguée par un prix Nobel pour sa force d’interpellation ? Nous assumons ce risque, conscient des difficultés théologiques qu’il faudra expliciter. Dans une première partie (« parcours exploratoires ») l’introduction à la lecture passe par un inventaire du contexte culturel et des expériences artistiques vécues par l’écrivain. Nous engageons cette recherche à partir de trois romans qui peuvent jalonner son parcours évolutif : Le palace (1962), pour la « période baroque », Les corps conducteurs (1971), pour la période dite « formaliste », Le jardin des plantes (1997), pour la période « post-moderne ». La deuxième partie (« vers une ouverture éthique et théologique ») construit progressivement la lecture d’un roman métisse à l’imaginaire grotesque qui comporte une dimension satirique, sensible, mystique sans mystère. La troisième partie (« du non sens proclamé du monde à l’insensé de Dieu ») s’intéresse aux articulations et limites du grotesque dans le « théodrame » du Crucifié-Ressuscité, face aux interrogations sans réponse des victimes de l’histoire et à l’angoissante question de la « déréliction » de l’homme. / Claude Simon in theology ? It is a fact. French theologians, more often than not, do not take literary works into account in their own studies. This is especially worrying for contemporary, agnostic and innovatory writers, critical observers of the age in which we live, vho, in the name of complexity, radically call into question our usual categories of analysis. Do Claude Simon’s novels lend themselves to consideration in a theological context ? A priori it is doubtful, but should such an innovatory work, rewarded by a Nobel prize for its strength of interrogation, NOT be subject to close scrutiny ? We accept this risk, being at the same time conscious of the theological difficulties which need to be clarified. In a first part (« the exploratory route ») the reader is introduced to the suject via an inventory of the cultural context and of the artistic experiences lived through by the writer. We embark on this research with three novels which can be considered to mark out his evolutionary journey : Le palace (1962), covering his « baroque period », Les corps conducteurs (1971) for his so-called « formalist period », Le jardin des Plantes for his « postmodern « period. The second part (« towards an ethical and theological development » ) progressively moves the reader towards a hybrid / mongrel novel, grotesquely make-believe, within which can be discerned a satirical, sensitive and mystical but not mysterious dimension. The third part (‘from the meaningless to the dementia of God ») examines the links and limits of the grotesque within the « theodrama » of the Risen-Crucified, set against the unanswered questioning by history’s victims and against the harrowing question of the « dereliction » of man.

O trabalho objetiva uma análise do corpo grotesco enquanto elemento construtivo da poética de três autores do início do século XX: Mário de Sá-Carneiro (Portugal); Augusto dos Anjos (Brasil) e Ramón López Velarde (México). Os escritores foram escolhidos pelo fato de, na mesma época, abalarem as respectivas sociedades em que viveram com produções poéticas inovadoras. Baseando-se nisto, a abordagem é feita a partir das teorias de W. Kayser, sobre o grotesco romântico e Mikhail Bakhtin sobre o realismo grotesco. A pesquisa identificou a necessidade de relacionar o corpo grotesco com a teoria do Decadentismo, pois esta estética constitui uma das primeiras rupturas rumo ao que convencionou chamar de modernidade. Por fim, analisamos a definitiva entrada do grotesco no cânone dos três países e a relação existente entre a categoria literária (e o corpo grotesco) com a poesia moderna. / The present work aims to analyse the grotesque body as a constructive element in the poetics of the three authors from the begining of the XXth Century: Mario de Sá Carneiro (Portugal), Augusto dos Anjos (Brazil) and Ramón López Velarde (Mexico). These writers were selected due to the fact that they had shocked their respectives societies creating innovative poetics elements. Based on that, the approach was done from the theories of W. Kayser concerning the romantic grotesque and Mikhail Bakhtin, regarding the grotesque realism. The research identify the need to relate the grotesque body to the Decadentism theory because this esthetics can be considered as one of the first ruptures towards what is known as Modernity. Also, the work identify the admission of the grotesque in the canon of these three mentioned countries as well as the relationship between the literary cathegory (and the grotesque body) and the Modern Poetry.

Cette thèse propose une étude globale des bestiaires rabelaisiens à partir de l’exploration de ses sources antiques et médiévales. La focale critique se concentre d’abord sur les torsions qu’impose Rabelais aux genres littéraires rattachés à des figures animales prototypiques : l’inversion des paradigmes épiques du cheval et du porc ; le brouillage et la démultiplication des bêtes charivariques et farcesques ; la mise en crise des animaux exemplaires de la fable. Elle s’ouvre ensuite aux jeux du célèbre humaniste avec les figures animales des écrits savants et sérieux : encyclopédies, littérature gnomique, livres de cuisine. Finalement, le point de vue se renverse pour examiner les effets esthétiques et sensoriels de ces bestiaires sur le lecteur et l’auditeur, et en dégager une certaine esthétique grotesque. Cette enquête débouche sur la redéfinition de l’humanisme rabelaisien, qui se révèle dans l’épreuve et à l’épreuve d’une profusion d’images animales. / This dissertation analyses François Rabelais’ bestiaries through the exploration of its antique and medieval sources. The first part of this thesis focuses on the way Rabelais distorts certain literary genres containing prototypical animal figures by reversing the epic paradigms associated with horses and boars, multiplying and merging farces and charivaris’ animals, and undermining the exemplary animals portrayed in the fables. The next part uncovers how the famous humanist plays with animal figures drawn from scholarly and serious writings such as encyclopedias, gnomic literature, and recipe books. The third part overturns this perspective to examine the aesthetical and sensory impact of these bestiaries on the reader and listener as well as the grotesque aesthetic they seem to thrive from. Overall, this investigation leads to a redefinition of the Rabelaisian humanism, which reveals itself through an abundance of animal images.