A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of A rts,
University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg,
for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy.
Johannesburg,
January 1973 / The purpose of th is thesis is to correct the widespread misconception
th a t children and adolescents are of small Importance in the world of
Balzac's Comedie humaine.
My method of procedure was not the traditional one. Instead of
making'individual characters the focal point of my study, I culled
relevant information from the Com&die humaine and then proceeded to group
related concepts. Afterwards I consulted Balzac's private correspondence,
the Oeuvres de Jeunesse, the Oeuvres diverses and various editions
of his works,as well as lite ra ry and social criticism .
The present thesis consists o f an Introduction, eight Chapters and
a Conclusion. I t is divided into two parts. Part I is concerned with
the child and the adolescent per s e . Part II outlines Balzac's view of
th e ir growth and development.
Chapter I aims to show that Balzac was not only a pioneer in the
history of the French novel, but also a pioneer of the treatment of the
child therein.
Chapter II studies those characteristics which he considered typical
of the child personality. They tend to be clinical rath er than lite ra ry ,
although there is inevitably some overlap and even co n flic t.
Chapter III examines types of children mentioned in the Comddie humaine.
Personal considerations motivated Balzac to place most emphasis on the
only child, the s p o ilt child and, obliquely, the adopted child who then
had minimal Importance in French Law. Nevertheless an appearance is
made by all types known a t the time to lite ra tu re , society and the law,
although not a ll are dissected.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:wits/oai:wiredspace.wits.ac.za:10539/18600 |
| Date | 09 September 2015 |
| Creators | Sahli, Janet |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | application/pdf, application/pdf, application/pdf, application/pdf, application/pdf |
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