Michel Tournier and the Metaphor of Fiction by David Platten (review)
2004; Modern Humanities Research Association; Volume: 99; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1353/mlr.2004.a827103
ISSN2222-4319
Autores Tópico(s)Themes in Literature Analysis
Resumo208 Reviews deemed 'un Christ plus bouddhique que chretien' (p. 7). The quest forthe truth and the refusal to lie; the delight in simple and earthly pleasures; the lucidity of emotional indifference; and the suspicion of logic and rational discourse?all of these leitmotifs of Camus's recitreveal, in Baishanski's reading, that i'homme qui se dessine a travers L'Etranger doit plus a l'Orient qu'a l'Occident' (p. 165). Rejecting received (western) wisdom upholding the view that Meursault is essentially an indifferentand emotionally bankrupt character, unable to express himself and displaying little compassion, Baishanski promotes Camus's protagonist as 'un etre attentif,eveille, poete et meme mystique' (p. 209). Thus, Meursault's 'indifference' is deemed 'resistante, voulue et orientee' (p. 218); his quest forhappiness ('un bonheur bien terrestreet tres modeste' (p. 187)) is seen as being unimpeded by unnecessary emotional investment; and his suspicion of language, rather than a symptom of his supposed inability to communicate , is considered a means by which to reveal his 'mefiance devant la parole' (p. 254), a further characteristic of oriental thinking. In the final analysis, then, Baishanski's study sheds light on an aspect of Camus's work which has not yet been fully ack? nowledged by critics. Well researched and scholarly in nature with a thoughtfully organized bibliographical apparatus in evidence, the book comes recommended to both the specialist and non-specialist reader requiring a knowledge of how oriental thinking can subtly and convincingly influence the occidental psyche. University of Central Lancashire Mark Orme Michel Tournier and the Metaphor of Fiction. By David Platten. Liverpool: Liv? erpool University Press. 1999. xi + 25opp. ?32; $51.20 (pbk ?15.95; $25.52). ISBN 0-85323-843-x (pbk 0-85323-853-7). This is the firstbook-length study to approach Tournier's fiction systematically via the concept of metaphor. David Platten's firstchapter offersan astute and thorough survey of theories of metaphor from Aristotle to Lakoff and Johnson. His subsequent analysis of Tournier's writingdraws sustenance fromthose models ofmetaphors, such as Ricceur's, which see it not simply as an act of nominal substitutionbut as a product of the imagination which mobilizes at a stroke two realms of discourse, a powerful performative instrument with the capacity to reconfigure discourse and context. Thus Vendrediou les limbesdu Pacifique is viewed in a firmlyLevi-Straussian perspective, as mobilizing a set of fluid oppositions that betray a metaphorical substance of cultural consciousness. Similar use is made of Heidegger in the reading of Le Roi des Aulnes, and of Kant forLes Meteores. The pursuit of these patterns leads to some provocative readings ofkey episodes, with the slaying ofthe goat Andoar in Vendredibeing equated to the advent of the age of Enlightenment, or the ending of Le Roi des Aulnes being viewed as distinguished by 'the light of Reason' (p. 96). The keynote of this study is Platten's insistence on the extra-textual significance of Tournier's writing, and his concomitant hostility to excessively infra-textual and deconstructive approaches. He vigorously defends the vocation of narrative to redefine the reader's conception of reality,and this leads him to acknowledge and endorse the avowedly pedagogic aspect of Tournier's enterprise, and the self-conscious shift that the author has made towards a more limpid, integrated, and suggestive narra? tive style characteristic of good writing for children. While many other critics see Tournier's later output, and especially Eleazar (1996), as frequently stilted in its figural equations, Platten views this evolution as part of a shifttowards a new literary realism which is for him healthily characteristic of a swathe of post-nouveau roman French writers. This study is clearly more accessible to the experienced Tournier reader than to the student beginner. Those interested in the functioningof metaphor MLRy 99.1, 2004 209 for communication and cognition in writing will also find much of interest here. The debate on this could have gained furtherin focus from a more extended conclusion to balance the opening chapter, but this study offersthroughout a sense of invigorating dialogue with, and challenge to, received ideas. University of St Andrews David Gascoigne Mon cher grandfou . . .: lettresd Marcel Carbotte 1947-79. By Gabrielle Roy. Ed...
Referência(s)