Modalités de lecture du nouveau roman

• Main Author: Macklovitch, David Nathaniel
• Other Authors: Lane-Mercier, Gillian (advisor)
• Format: Others
• Language: fr
• Published: McGill University 2002
• Subjects: French fiction > 20th century > History and criticism; New novel (Literary movement)
• Online Access: http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=79791

In this thesis, we examine theories of reading as they apply to three examples of the French New Novel. We begin with a detailed theoretical expose in which we compare and attempt to reconcile the reading models of Umberto Eco, Wolfgang Iser, Stanley Fish, Bertrand Gervais and Richard Saint-Gelais. The hybrid theory thus obtained is then tested on three works in order to underscore the modalities of reading that are particular to the New Novel, while insisting on these modalities' inherent variability. We focus on the reader's reconstructing of the narrative in L'Emploi du temps , on the impossibility of structuring the plot in La Maison de rendez-vous, and on the paradigmatic mode of reading La Bataille de Pharsale. In so doing, we hope to demonstrate how an analysis of the reading process allows for a heightened appreciation of the essential indeterminacy of the New Novel, of its fundamental otherness. We conclude with tentative remarks on the heuristic function of these texts.