A comparative study of secular accounts ot the apocalypse in four contemporary novels : -- Kurt Vonnegut's Galapagos, The Road by Cormac McCarthy -- Nicolas Dickner's Tarmac, and Les larmes de saint Laurent by Dominique Fortier

Abstract: This thesis is a comparative analysis of the apocalypse as a theme in four novels, two American and two Quebecois. Originally a biblical myth, apocalyptic tales are comprised of three narrative aspects defined Bertrand Gervais as Crisis, Time, Meaning / Sense. The four novels are analyzed...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Dahl, Eric N.
Other Authors: Edwards, Robert
Language:English
Published: Université de Sherbrooke 2015
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/11143/6501
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Summary:Abstract: This thesis is a comparative analysis of the apocalypse as a theme in four novels, two American and two Quebecois. Originally a biblical myth, apocalyptic tales are comprised of three narrative aspects defined Bertrand Gervais as Crisis, Time, Meaning / Sense. The four novels are analyzed individually according to these three elements. The American novels correspond to the more traditional pattern of the myth in which the world faces mass destruction followed by the survival of of the chosen-ones who will experience redemption. Contrarily, the two others demonstrate the conceptualization and representation of the traditional myth of the apocalypse towards a modern analogy of transformation of individuals within a profane world; one in which the mythical becomes farcical.||Résumé : Cette étude porte sur l’analyse comparée du thème de 1’apocalypse dans quatre romans, deux Américains et deux Québécois. Mythe biblique a 1’origine, le récit de I ’Apocalypse comporte trois éléments narratifs bien définis par Bertrand Gervais soient la Crise, le Temps et le Sens. Les quatre romans sont envisages, l’un a la suite de l’autre, en fonction de ces trois éléments. II en ressort que deux d’entre eux correspondent au schéma plus traditionnel du mythe avec sa destruction massive du monde suivi du choix d’élus qui auront la chance de connaitre la rédemption. Les deux autres, par contre, démontrent 1’evolution du mythe traditionnel de l’Apocalypse vers une analogie moderne de la transformation des individus dans un monde profane, ou le mythique devient même risible.