Identity Trouble: Fragmentation and Disillusionment in the Works of Guy de Maupassant Open Access
Yampolsky, Eva (2011)
Published
Abstract
In a period of a little over a decade, Guy de Maupassant produced
a
vast and diverse body of work, traversing numerous genres such as
the novel, the short
story, journalistic work, and even poetry. While he is best known
for his "fantastical"
story entitled "Le Horla," the majority of his short stories and
novels, written in the
tradition of the Realist movement, comprises a collection of
snap-shots of the private life
of petty bourgeois characters. Maupassant's oeuvre intersects with
various significant
transformations in France. Socially, the decline of the aristocracy
was counteracted by the
rise of the petty bourgeois, whose social titles rarely carried any
genealogical
significance, and were instead dubious products of transaction and
speculation. This same
period of the 19th century also saw the development of psychiatry
and the birth of
psychoanalysis, as well as the birth of the human sciences in
general. This dissertation
explores the effects of these transformations on the concept of
identity and its
representation in Maupassant's oeuvre. In all of his works,
Maupassant opposes identity
as a solid unit, revealing instead its fragmented and conflicting
nature.
The four chapters of this dissertation approach various aspects of
identity in
Maupassant's fictional texts - novels and short stories. Chapter
one explores the role of
the body as a vehicle of the reflexive relationship between the
subject and society. This
part of my dissertation considers the various forms of visual
representation of the subject,
through such devices as the mirror, painting and photography, which
in Maupassant's
texts intersect with the questions of visual and social
resemblance, doubling, rivalry and
the duel. Chapter two discusses the breakdown of genealogy and
proper names as
symbols of a stable identity. The third chapter focuses on
Maupassant's representation of
characters as victims and analyzes the characters' downfall
as a result of disillusionment.
In the final chapter, I limit my scope of analysis to three
stories, 'Lettre d'un fou" and the
two versions of "Le Horla." My objective has been to establish a
link between the elusive
figure of the Horla, which haunts, persecutes and controls man, and
the crowd.
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Introduction
1
Chapter One
Fatal Reflection: The Fragmented Identity of Maupassantian
Characters
9
Chapter Two
Elusive Names, Troubled Genealogy
64
Chapter Three
Victims, Decline and Suicide
102
Chapter Four
Horlamil: A Figure of the Social Mass
157
Conclusion
197
Bibliography
201
About this Dissertation
| School | |
|---|---|
| Department | |
| Degree | |
| Submission | |
| Language |
|
| Research Field | |
| Keyword | |
| Committee Chair / Thesis Advisor | |
| Committee Members |
Primary PDF
| Thumbnail | Title | Date Uploaded | Actions |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
Identity Trouble: Fragmentation and Disillusionment in the Works of Guy de Maupassant () | 2018-08-28 13:21:13 -0400 |
|
Supplemental Files
| Thumbnail | Title | Date Uploaded | Actions |
|---|