D.Litt. et Phil. / Critics have identified the formulaic nature of the histoire tragique, a genre which seems to rely on a simple sequence of events. A law, whether natural, divine or human, will be broken by a transgressor and the resulting imbalance must be rectified by punishment of the crime. We have limited our field of study to collections of stories that their authors describe as “histoires”, a term revived in the mid-sixteenth century, which suggests that the tales have universal truth and serve as exempla. The term histoire tragique may however be a misnoma as comic and tragic tales are sometimes juxtaposed by sixteenth-century authors. This study examines the stories in four collections of histoire tragique from the sixteenth century: Discours des Champs faëz (Claude de Taillemont, 1553), Le Printemps d’Yver (Jacques Yver, 1572), Nouvelles Histoires tant tragiques que comiques (Vérité Habanc, 1585) and Nouvelles Histoires Tragiques (Bénigne Poissenot, 1586). A collection from the seventeenth century, Les Histoires mémorables et tragiques de ce temps (François de Rosset, 1619) provides a useful point of comparison for its sixteenth century counterparts. We look at three kinds of transgression: firstly those outside the stories themselves (transgressions of genre conventions or transgressions on the part of the author); secondly, transgressions within the stories themselves (the degree to which the author has observed the codes of conduct and social hierarchies); thirdly, transgressions at the level of the plot (how the characters behave, whether or not a crime is punished). This third category of transgression is further divided into the following categories: dissimulation, violence, sexual crimes and treason. In addition, we note the type of weapon used to commit a crime and the nature of the punishment, if any, that follows. We analyse the stories according to the nature of the offender. Crimes are committed by a variety of characters, “Barbarians” from North Africa and the Middle East, a servant, a family member or trusted friend. Crimes are also committed as a result of tension between aristocrat and peasant, or between catholic and protestant. Finally, we examine the stories of François de Rosset in the light of the discoveries made in the preceding chapters. The sixteenth century authors we have examined seek to instruct the reader and to arouse pity for the victims of crimes. Rosset, who excludes comic tales from his collection, seeks rather to arouse fear at the strength of human passions and the inevitable punishment for the crimes those passions inspire. The sequence of law/transgression/punishment is not always strictly adhered to by the authors of the sixteenth-century collections and where punishment does not occur, the sequence may be modified to law/transgression/redemption. The juxtaposition of comic and tragic tales varies the mood within a collection, but a happy ending to a story does not necessarily mean the absence of tragedy. If a crime goes unpunished then the judicial imbalance remains. Thus, tragic vision does not lie solely in the death of the main characters, but in the uncertainty of a world where a criminal may escape punishment.

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

Also submitted by the author as part of application for candidature for the degree of Doctor of Letters, University of Adelaide, School of Humanities, Discipline of European Studies and Linguistics, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references and index. / 564 p. ; / Title page, contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University Library.

En composant avec l’Enquête la première grande œuvre en prose de la littérature grecque, Hérodote marque un moment crucial de l’histoire des formes littéraires : il donne à la prose grecque ses lettres de noblesse, tout en se situant dans un rapport de filiation, sinon d’émulation, vis-à-vis de l’héritage poétique. L’auteur du traité Du Sublime ne le qualifie-t-il pas d’homêrikôtatos, tandis qu’Hermogène de Tarse évoque sa langue et son style comme étant des plus poétiques ? Il s’agit alors de comprendre comment cette prose, reconnue dès longtemps comme une prose d’art, se nourrit des éléments et procédés qui caractérisent la langue d’Homère et celle des poètes grecs : éléments phonétiques, morphologiques, syntaxiques, rythmiques, formulaires, lexicaux et compositionnels, convergeant en une esthétique de la poikilia et assurant à l’œuvre d’Hérodote, du point de vue des techniques d’écriture, une dimension proprement poétique. / Having created the first great work of prose in Greek literature, Herodotus stands at a momentous point in the history of literary forms : he ennobles Greek prose, not only as a continuator, but also as an emulator of the poetic heritage. Indeed the author of the Peri Hupsous calls him homêrikôtatos, and the rhetor Hermogenes describes his language and style as most poetic. We shall try to understand how such a prose, long acknowledged as Kunstprosa, is imbued with features and processes that characterize the language of Homer as well as Greek poetry, in the fields of phonetics, morphology, syntax, rhythms, formulae, lexicon and composition, converging towards an aesthetics of poikilia and endowing Herodotus’ work, as regards writing techniques, with a proper poetical dimension.

Title supplied by cataloguer from accompanying Statement of submission. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 451-467) and index. / Has accompanying Statement of submission letter and application for candidature which includes a list of other publications by the author and details of works proposed for the submission. / 2 v. : / Title page, contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University Library. / Published texts submitted for doctorate are in French. / Thesis (D.Litt.)--University of Adelaide, School of Humanities, Discipline of European Studies and Linguistics, 2006

Title supplied by cataloguer from accompanying Statement of submission. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 451-467) and index. / Has accompanying Statement of submission letter and application for candidature which includes a list of other publications by the author and details of works proposed for the submission. / 2 v. : / Title page, contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University Library. / Published texts submitted for doctorate are in French. / Thesis (D.Litt.)--University of Adelaide, School of Humanities, Discipline of European Studies and Linguistics, 2006

This thesis explores the relationship between the many literary texts referring to the deaths of Ugo d'Este and Parisina Malatesta, who were executed in Ferrara in 1425 in accordance with an order by Niccolò III d'Este after he discovered their incestuous relationship. The texts are divided in three categories: (1) the fifteenth- and sixteenth-century Italian novellas and their translations; (2) the seventeenth-century Spanish tragedy; and (3) the nineteenth- and twentieth-century Romantic works. Although these categories divide the various texts chronologically, they also represent a thematic grouping as the texts within each category share common themes that set them apart from those in the other groups. While the various texts all tell the same story, each approaches the tragedy slightly differently based largely on the audience for which it was intended. Thus, the time and place of each text greatly affects its telling. Still, the fact that substantial differences exist between texts that were produced in both geographic and temporal proximity suggests that these are not all-determining factors. Although scholarship exists analyzing individual texts, a comprehensive study of the literary accounts relating to the tragedy has never been undertaken. Rather than detracting from the story, the differences put forth in each of the literary texts enrich the global reading experience by offering many perspectives on the tragedy. In addition, these differences influence how the reader reacts to each of the other texts. Familiarity with one version of the story changes the way a reader approaches the others. A parallel reading of the different versions of the story also shows the power culture has on interpretation. Texts referring to a singular event from one time and place sharply contrast with those that are the product of other circumstances.

This thesis examines the increasing sophistication of sixteenth-century French literary engagement with Virgil's Aeneid. It argues that successive forms of engagement with the Aeneid should be viewed as a single process that gradually adopts increasingly complex literary strategies. It does this through a series of four different forms of literary engagement with the Aeneid: translation, continuation, rejection and reconciliation. The increasing sophistication of these forms reflects the writers' desire to interact with the original Aeneid as political epic and Roman foundation narrative, and with the political, religious and literary contexts of early modern France. The first chapter compares the methods of and motivations behind all of the sixteenth-century translations of the Aeneid into French; it thus demonstrates shifts in successive translators' interpretations of Virgil's work, and of its application to sixteenth-century France. The next three chapters each analyse adaptation of Virgil's poem in a major French literary work. Firstly, Ronsard's Franciade is analysed as an example of French foundation epic that simultaneously draws upon and rejects Virgil's narrative. Ronsard's poem is read in the light of Mapheo Vegio's “Thirteenth Book” of the Aeneid, or Supplementum, which continues Virgil's narrative and carries it over into a Christian context. Next, Agrippa d'Aubigné's response to Virgilian epic in Les Tragiques is shown to have been mediated by Lucan's Pharsalia and its anti- epic and anti-imperialist interpretation of the Aeneid. D'Aubigné's inversion of Virgil is highlighted through comparison of attitudes to death and resurrection in Les Tragiques, the Aeneid and Vegio's Antoniad. Finally, Guillaume de Salluste du Bartas' combination, in La Sepmaine and La Seconde Sepmaine of the hexameral structure of Genesis with Virgil's narrative of reconciliation after civil war is shown to represent the most sophisticated understanding of and most complex interaction with the Aeneid in sixteenth-century France.

Au XVIe siècle, nous assistons à deux types de récits criminels : dans la presse, les faits divers, produits sous la forme de « canards », et dans la littérature, les histoires tragiques, forme narrative brève essentiellement véridique et à tonalité pathétique. Lorsque Pierre Boaistuau, appelé aussi Launay, publie Les Histoires tragiques, il sélectionne six récits parmi les Novelle de Matteo Bandello. Le travail de Boaistuau ne se limite pas à la traduction de ces textes mais également à la fondation d’un genre qu’est l’histoire tragique. François de Belleforest, son ami, en poursuit la traduction et en varie les sources ; il publie entre 1559 et 1582 sept volumes d’histoires tragiques. Notre étude porte sur la justice, un thème clé pour comprendre les textes de ces deux auteurs. En effet, leurs récits révèlent un intérêt particulier pour les différentes formes de justice (humaine, naturelle et divine), pour le procès judiciaire et ses protagonistes. Nous analysons tous ces points ainsi que le thème de la transgression à travers différents crimes, principalement les crimes de paillardise (« macquerellage », rapt, viol et adultère). Notre réflexion porte également sur le châtiment et ses fonctions ainsi que sur le comportement du condamné au moment de son exécution. Enfin, nous nous intéressons aux stratégies discursives déployées par nos auteurs notamment à la rhétorique judiciaire et à la rhétorique délibérative. Les enjeux soulevés à travers l’étude du discours rhétorique permettent d’explorer les liens entre le discours judiciaire et le discours politique et donc entre justice et politique. Somme toute, la dernière partie de notre travail permet de cerner les rapports entre rhétorique, justice et politique. / In the sixteenth century, two types of criminal narratives predominate: short news items in the press, printed separately as canards, and brief narrative literary forms that constitute the tragic story genre, combining truth with a tone of pathos. When Pierre Boaistuau, also called Launay, publishes Les Histoires tragiques, he selects six stories from Matteo Bandello’s Novelle. Boaistuau's work is not limited to the translation of these texts but also establishes the tragic story genre. His friend François de Belleforest continues the translation and varies the sources; between 1559 and 1582 he published seven volumes of tragic stories. My thesis focuses on justice, a key theme for understanding the texts of these two authors. Indeed, their stories reveal a particular interest in the different forms of justice (human, natural and divine), in the judicial process and in its protagonists. I analyze all these points as well as the theme of transgression through an examination of various crimes, mainly crimes of debauchery ("macquerellage" –sex trafficking–, abduction, rape and adultery). I also consider the different functions of punishment as well as the behavior of the convicted person at the time of execution. Finally, I am interested in the discursive strategies deployed by these authors, including judicial rhetoric and deliberative rhetoric. The issues raised through the study of rhetoric make it possible to explore the links between judicial discourse and political discourse and therefore between justice and politics. The summative, final part of our work further elucidates the relationships between rhetoric, justice and politics.