This thesis illustrates the distinction established by Maurice Blanchot in Le Livre à venir, between novel and narration, as it appears in Chrétien de Troyes' Le conte du Graal ou le roman de Perceval. The novel accompanies the hero to the meeting with the Sirens, while the narration constitutes the meeting itself. Once the hero had his meeting with the Sirens, in Perceval's case he has the privilege of hearing God's names, he disappears from the novel, entering the realm of silence, which dominates the narration. In leaving the novel, Perceval gains access to a superior meaning, hidden to the reader, which will save him from the futile repetition of the same experience. What this paper demonstrates is that Perceval and Gauvain as well, had several meetings with the Sirens, but they either willingly ignored them or did not even see them in the first place. The reason is no other than their remarkable rhetorical skills which would be of no value outside the novel. If Perceval makes the vow to silence and saves himself, it is because he realizes that after several years of glorious combat, chivalry has nothing new to offer him. On the contrary, Gauvain, too superficial to become aware of his own degradation, will remain faithful to the world of the novel and to the Arthurian fiction.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LSU/oai:etd.lsu.edu:etd-05242004-104611 |
| Date | 26 May 2004 |
| Creators | Cimpean, Oana Carmina |
| Contributors | Alexandre Leupin, Katharine Jensen, Nathaniel Wing |
| Publisher | LSU |
| Source Sets | Louisiana State University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.lsu.edu/docs/available/etd-05242004-104611/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached herein a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to LSU or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below and in appropriate University policies, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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