The object of the thesis is to present a comparison between two authors, Jacques Attali and Michael Ende, showing how their literary endeavours construct a discourse on the mythical heritage of mankind, the power of the imagination and the centrality of storytelling in human existence. With La vie eternelle, roman and Die unendliche Geschichte, respectively, Attali and Ende have created two literary works whose scope embraces mythology, metaJiterary devices and an approach to the literary motifs of the double, the mirror and eternal return. The frrst chapter, «Metafictional Worlds", focuses on the metafictionai aspects of La vie elernelle, roman and Die unendliche Geschichte. The second chapter, "The Symbology of Names", analyses AttaJi 's usage of names in his novel. The third chapter, ''The Compendium of Symbols", presents a comparative analysis of the two novels. The fourth chapter, "Archetypes, the Double and the Mirror", looks at La vie eternelle, roman and Die unendliche Geschichte from a different perspective. Their symbols of renewal and cyclicality, their portrayal of time and ritual and their peculiar geography invite an Eliadian reading. Eliade's concepts of "eternal return", "archaic ontology" and the "abolition of profane time" are used to analyse the worlds created by Attali and Ende. The second part of the chapter focuses on the motif of the double and the mirror, looking at the duplications, mirrors, and alter-egos of the two novels.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:601664 |
| Date | January 2013 |
| Creators | Andreetti, Saul |
| Publisher | University of Essex |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
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