In this thesis, we are examining the structural poetics of the short story in The Comedie humaine. We first of all analyze three internal elements of the story: narration, description and dialogue. We then study the composition of the collections which form The Comedie humaine. / Without challenging the principles of concision and concentration, accepted since the XIXth century in regard to the short narrative, this dissertation focuses on strategies pertaining to narration, description and dialogue, which embrace these principles, and which enable the short narrative to distinguish itself from the novel. Within our study of internal components, we analyze how texts are grouped together into a collection. This is one aspect which is an integral part of any study of the short story. / Everything indicates that the short narrative favours concentration, while the novel tends to digress. We will establish the truth of this assertion by studying the proliferation of this narrative and narrative strategies, by examining the functions of description and the components of the portrait, and by analyzing discursive transgressions and the functions of dialogue. What follows will be a study of the composition which will begin by focusing on the "Catalogue des oeuvres de 1845", representing a state of intermediate assembling. What concerns us here is the structure of the collection in The Comedie humaine and of the various ways Balzac explored grouping his works together. / In Balzac's work, the structural differences which exist between the short story and the novel contribute to the actual development of the short narrative's poetics. This dissertation therefore forms an invaluable part of Balzacian criticism and certainly finds a place for itself in genre theory.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.82850 |
| Date | January 2002 |
| Creators | Daoust, Isabelle |
| Contributors | Duquette, Jean-Pierre (advisor), Lane-Mercier, Gillian (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 | Doctor of Philosophy (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: 001982890, proquestno: AAINQ88445, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest. |
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