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'Le Grand Meaulnes': un roman initiatique by Robert Baudry

2010; Modern Humanities Research Association; Volume: 105; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1353/mlr.2010.0244

2222-4319

Beth W. Gale,

French Literature and Criticism

252 Reviews The substance of the cahier was written for themost part between the begin ning ofDecember 1913 (at the earliest) and mid-October 1914, the year ofAlfred Agostinelli's death. Itdeals almost entirelywith the disappearance ofAlbertine and its aftermath, focusing primarily on the development of the narrators obsessive spiral of grief and its attendant emotions. Yet, asMauriac-Dyer draws out in her introduction, the importance of cahier 54 extends beyond the increasing promi nence granted toAlbertine and her impact on the narrator, for its status as integral to the construction of the Recherche may be detected in other key shifts.Certain characters become more significant: Swann, for instance, increasingly assumes the role of alter ego here, whereas others, such asMile de Silaria (the futureMile de Stermaria), fade. And while the three-volume plan for the novel is still in place, many preparations' (p. xxvii) are none the less foreseen. Indeed, this cahier, to gether with itspredecessor cahier 71, forms the structural grid for themajority of notebooks labelled 'Deuxieme partie de Tepisode', which corresponds to the second stay inBalbec, the narrator and Albertine's life together in Paris, theirpainful love affair, its tragic conclusion, the narrators grief, and ultimately the gradual pro cess he undergoes of forgetting.The two thus represent, asMauriac-Dyer notes, a Veritable foyergenetique' (p. xxviii). The importance of this and future editions of the cahiers for scholars working in the field of genetic criticism is immeasurable. These volumes also offer a fascinat ing addition to Proustian scholarship more generally bymaking such high-quality and meticulously annotated reproductions accessible outside the BnR Moreover, the quality of these editions feels considerably closer to the originals than the microfiche format inwhich they are now accessed in the BnR The publication of further cahiers is thus to be eagerly awaited. Cardiff University Margaret Topping 'LeGrand Meaulnes': un roman initiatique. By Robert Baudry. Saint-Genouph: Nizet. 2006. 137 pp. 20. ISBN 978-2-7078-1291-9. Those who remember fondly their first reading of Le Grand Meaulnes, as well as those who study fantastic adventure tales,will find something to like in this study that places Alain-Fournier's novel in a long tradition of fantastic quest tales. As Claude Herzfeld states in his preface, Robert Baudry reveals to the reader that Meaulnes's journey follows the same stages as the great tradition of quest novels, or novels of initiation (p. 11). Le Grand Meaulnes is a novel of adventure in the medieval sense, where thehero is open tomeetings and exposed to danger (p. 12). After Meaulnes's firstquest, Herzfeld suggests, the novel abandons themythical adventure theme (p. 13). Baudry agrees that reading Le Grand Meaulnes as a quest works best in the firstpart of thenovel, the search for the lost estate. Indeed, many critics see the latterpart of the novel as a failed attempt to recover themagic of the firstsection (p. 110). The firsttwo chapters explore parallels between Chretien de Troyes's Perceval ou le conte du Graal and Alain-Fournier's novel. Chapter 1, about Augustin's journey MLR, 105.1, 2010 253 towards the enchanted estate, analyses common quest elements, including inter sections, sleep, a labyrinth, and a desolate land. Baudry notes the essential appeal for the reader ofAlain-Fournier's novel, and of anywonder quest tale: first,a deli cious expectation at recognizing familiarmotifs from past reading, followed by the surprise of discovering the transformation of those motifs in this particular text. Chapter 2, amagical reading of Le Grand Meaulnes, is comprised of a similar list ofmagical elements found in both texts, such as secrecy and mystery, fasting and feasting, paradise and fairy princesses, unanswered queries, and failed initiation. Chapters 3-6 explore themes of the fantastic quest genre such as the hero; 'heroic companionship'; themagic numbers 3, 7, and 12 represented by the character constellations; the symbolism of costume; and themultiple women in Le Grand Meaulnes. In the novel themythical ultimately supersedes the autobiographical, Baudry argues, because art imitates previous art, not reality (pp. 121-22). He repeats that the combination of expectation (based on familiar themes) and surprise (based on transformation and innovation) yields aesthetic enjoyment, both for listeners to stories and forAlain-Fournier readers...