Light in the poetry by Saint-Denys Garneau appears in touches. At first imperceptible, it is soon revealed through the movement of wind or water. If the light in movement gives form to the landscape by outlining the contour of things, the fixed light, on the other hand, hollows out large holes of darkness which engulf the landscape. The space thus displayed reduces the poet to anonymity and silence. The conflict pulling the poet between these two forms of light, which refers to the problematics of Orpheus' song and sight, as defined by Blanchot, constitutes the drama of Saint-Denys Garneau. The poet thus seems to rest only in the midst of the transparence, this excess of clarity which transfigures things without however destroying their unchanging appearance. / Light thus determines the poet's attitude facing the world. Each day is lived out according to the ascent or decline of light. One can thus observe how the morning, afternoon and night inspire in Saint-Denys Garneau particular states of mind and songs. Light is indissociable from Saint-Denys Garneau's poetic process. This study should allow me to show that the poet's failure is not exclusively the result of exterior hostile forces acting upon his poetic undertaking, but that it places itself, on the contrary, within this poetic undertaking insofar as the silence (the darkness of the fixed light) is the necessary risk to the word (the light in movement).
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.23325 |
| Date | January 1995 |
| Creators | Caron, Katerine |
| Contributors | Rivard, Yvon (advisor) |
| Publisher | McGill University |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | French |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Coverage | Master of Arts (Département de langue et littérature françaises.) |
| Rights | All items in eScholarship@McGill are protected by copyright with all rights reserved unless otherwise indicated. |
| Relation | alephsysno: 001488734, proquestno: MM12010, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest. |
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