A literary perspective on the notion of le hasard in twentieth century France

Through an examination of works from Dada and Surrealism, of Malraux's La Condition humaine, of some examples of the New Novel, and of Tournier's Vendredi ou les limbes du Pacifique I observe the occurrence, over the course of the twentieth century, of a shift in attitude toward events which occur by chance (which I define as events which exceed human control). From a tentative and fearful attitude there is a demonstrable move toward a decidedly open and positive one. In addition to the literary texts examined, I demonstrate the importance of such events to the philosophies of Georges Bataille and Jean-Paul Sartre. This shift in attitude is emphasized through a contrastive study of Diderot's Jacques le fataliste et son mai tre, Zola's Therese Raquin and Huysmans' A Rebours. The study leads to discussion of the possible sources of this phenomenon as well as implications for the individual and for society.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Literature, Romance

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2011

Author dc:creator

• Robertson, Jean Ellen

Contributors dc:contributor

• Gray, Stanley E.

• Literature, Romance
• Philosophy
• History, Modern

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 1995 Robertson, Jean Ellen

Language dc:language

eng

Identifier

AAI9543706
(UMI)AAI9543706

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/23428