PROUST ET FLAUBERT: DES FICTIONS DE SOI ET DES MYTHES DE L'AUTRE Open Access

Abstract

This study aims to examine the proximity between the works of Proust and
Flaubert. While there would be many different ways to approach such a question, the
present analysis will focus on notions of self and otherness, prominent in the works of both
authors.
Flaubert's view of subjectivity - later identified by critics as bovarysme, or the power
of illusion in the construction of the self - clearly distinguishes his world, whereas Proust
stands as the thinker of modern subjectivity, the first author to think and include the effect
of time in the conception of the subject. The first chapter shows that the view of each
author entails not only a distinct quality of perception of the self, but also a world where
the position and the gaze of the other differ greatly. The second chapter furthermore
considers the standpoint of each author towards otherness through his depiction of the
human face. While the two authors do indeed encounter the human face in almost opposite
ways, they both eventually testify to a problematic nature of the relation to the other, a
relation mainly characterized by assimilation to the self or erasure.
Notions of otherness and self inevitably lead our thought to the question of writing
and reading, always situated between a self and others. The writing styles of Flaubert and
Proust thus become the ultimate concern of our study; the characteristics of each style, the
way in which it encounters us, and the Other that writes itself through each text become the
focus of the last chapter.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Introduction
1
Chapitre 1: Images de soi, soi comme image
7
Chapitre 2: Du visage
63
Chapitre 3: Ecrire l'Autre
133
Conclusion
181
Bibliographie
185

About this Dissertation

Rights statement

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School	Laney Graduate School
Department	French
Degree	PhD
Submission	Dissertation
Language	French
Research Field	Language, General Literature, Romance Literature, Modern
Keyword	writing style Flaubert self and otherness Proust French literature
Committee Chair / Thesis Advisor	Bonnefis, Philippe, Emory University Bennington, Geoffrey, Emory University
Committee Members	Corrigan, Kevin, Emory University Nouvet, Claire, Emory University

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