Based on Thorstein Veblen's Theory of the Leisure Class, this thesis gives an interpretation of Marcel Proust's A la recherche du temps perdu. Published in 1899, the Theory proposes a sociological analysis of the economical and social American elite, from 1850 to 1900, a time of major capitalistic expansion in the United States. Veblen's concepts of leisure and conspicuous consumption allow us to demonstrate how each character in Proust's novel distinguishes itself in a context of social rivalry. Referring to Pierre Bourdieu's theory, various conspicuous social practices are analyzed according to the social milieu of La Recherche from which they originated. Therefore, Mme Verdurin's upper middle class perception of reality confronts the aristocratic ethic embodied by the duchesse de Guermantes. In the conclusion of the thesis, we acknowledge the predominant sociological aspect of La Recherche, which is however only one of the many underlying elements of Proust's technique of fiction.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.31132 |
| Date | January 2001 |
| Creators | Pinson, Guillaume, 1973- |
| Contributors | Angenot, Marc (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: 001808177, proquestno: MQ70311, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest. |
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