Michel Tournier and the Metaphor of Fiction (Modern French Writers)

Michel Tournier is a writer who explores complex philosophical questions in the guise of concrete, imagistic narratives. This comprehensive study privileges the notion of literary reference, by which the world of text is understood or experienced in metaphorical relation to the world outside of it. Metaphor, in the context of Tournier{u2019}s fiction, shows how the fantastic merges with the real to provide new perspectives on many diverse aspects of the modern world: the Crusoe myth, Nazism, the value to society of art and religion, and the nature of education. This book elucidates an aesthetic of Tournier{u2019}s fiction that encompasses the writer{u2019}s stated ambition to {u2018}go beyond literature{u2019} "This book is the first full length study to cover the complete texts of Herve Guibert (1955-1991), offering a thorough documentation of Guibert and his literary and other output, and therefore the first critical account of Guibert as one of the major French authors of the century." "Guibert's work is considered in the light of a trope of overlapping key concerns which permeate each of his texts: fiction/truth, self/other, novel/other literary forms, body/text, betrayal/friendship. His writings are related internally to each other, providing a constant dialogue on the problematics of a literary 'enterprise' of the self. The study is guided by Guibert's relation to the novel, a major line of enquiry throughout, as well as his experimentation with voices in particular. One of Dr Boule's main contentions is that Guibert arrives at the creation of a new literary genre, the roman faux, with the publication of his best known work: To the Friend who did not save my life. The book ends with a study of the whole artistic production of Guibert after he is diagnosed as HIV positive within the parameter of the voices of the self."--BOOK JACKET "Michel Tournier is France's most widely acclaimed living novelist, a writer who explores complex philosophical questions in the guise of concrete, imagistic narratives. His texts demand academic scrutiny, but Tournier also actively encourages a different form of reception. His habit of performing abridged versions of his stories before a 'live' (frequently young) audience explicitly links his work to the oral tradition of the storyteller. Tournier's project therefore solicits a holistic rather than deconstructive approach on the part of the reader, in which the representative value of each singular text rather than interconnections within the oeuvre becomes the primary focus of critical attention." "This comprehensive study of Tournier's fiction privileges the notion of literary reference, by which the world of text is understood or experienced in metaphorical relation to the world outside of it. This book elucidates an aesthetic of Tournier's fiction that encompasses the writer's stated ambition to 'go beyond literature'."--BOOK JACKET "Michel Tournier is France's most widely acclaimed living novelist, a writer who explores complex philosophical questions in the guise of concrete, imagistic narratives."--BOOK JACKET. "This comprehensive study of Tournier's fiction privileges the notion of literary reference, by which the world of text is understood or experienced in metaphorical relation to the world outside of it. Metaphor, viewed as a linguistic entity and principle of cognition, opens the door to the writer's imagination and, in the context of Tournier's fiction, shows how the fantastic merges with the real to provide new perspectives on many diverse aspects of the modern world: the Crusoe myth, Nazism, the value to society of art and religion, and the nature of education."--Jacket Title Page......Page 4 Contents......Page 6 Acknowledgements......Page 7 List of Abbreviations......Page 8 Preface......Page 10 1: Perspectives on Metaphor and Literary Fiction......Page 14 2: Suspended Animation: Vendredi ou Les limbes du Pacifique......Page 54 3: The Drive for Reference......Page 96 4: The Kingdom of the Narrator......Page 144 5: The Empire of the Child......Page 174 Conclusion......Page 224 Notes to Preface......Page 228 Bibliography......Page 250 Index......Page 258 This Full-length Study Is Devoted To The Works Of Hervé Guibert. It Provides A Panoramic Approach To The Author And His Oeuvre And Ends With A Study Of Guibert's Whole Artistic Output After His Diagnosis As Hiv Positive To His Death In 1991. Jean-pierre Boulé ; Translated From The French By J. Fletcher. Includes Bibliographical References And Indexes.