Between 1933 and 1963, many Quebec critics followed with interest--some sporadically, others regularly--the works and career of Alain Grandbois (1900-1975). This thesis analyzes in systematic fashion the content and the evolution of their discourse. / In addition to engaging in "dialogue" (via their reviews) with certain publishers, the critics reflected upon the problem of regionalism and universalism in Grandbois' "clear and simple" prose works, although in quite different ways with each new book. The collections of poems, on the other hand, because of their "hermetism", induced commentators to study the question of the intelligible and the unintelligible in poetry, a question closely linked to that of the meaning--or the absurdity--of existence. Moreover, these interpreters of Grandbois' works, in order to actualize them, read them into the social discourse of the time. Thus, some denounced them for reasons of dogma or of morality; others, more numerous, sought to make Grandbois' texts more "readable" by referring them to current events or phenomena, such as the Second World War, the immediate post-war period, or the "silent revolution" of the 1960s. / Products of the classical education system, Grandbois' exegetes drew their inspiration from the principal tendencies of European criticism. As well, they tended to compare Grandbois' prose works to those of French prose writers of the interwar years, and to link his poetry to that of European poets (the surrealists and those they influenced, among others), although occasional reference was made to local writers. / Over time, the critics came to construct the myth of Alain Grandbois, that "exceptional" literary and human being who acclimatized the "modern" poem to Quebec, after having roamed the world from 1925 to 1940. The history of Alain Grandbois' critical good fortune, in short, is that of a happy match between an "eminently" distinguished author and his grateful commentators, for whom he created the opportunity to say "new" things about man, art and life.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.41326 |
| Date | January 1993 |
| Creators | Fortin, Marcel |
| Contributors | Ricard, Froucois (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: 001358172, proquestno: NN91883, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest. |
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