El. knyga: Gaze, Memory, and Gender in Narrative from Ancient to Modern

Using the perspective of neuroscience and analyses of archetypal patterns, Gaze, Memory, and Gender in Narrative from Ancient to Modern proposes a fresh and convincing reinterpretation of Alain-Fourniers canonic novel Le Grand Meaulnes. Nelly G. Kuppers analysis sheds light on the oppositional dynamic between Meaulnes as archetype of the masculine hero, who must not look back, and Seurel, the narrator who embodies Christian values. The books stimulating inquiry demonstrates the centrality of the adventure novel for the renewal of French literature in the early twentieth century.Marie-Eve Thérenty, Professor of French Literature; Director of the Research Center on Literature and the Arts of the 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries (RIRRA21), University of Paul-Valéry, Montpellier 3, France Gaze, Memory, and Gender in Narrative from Ancient to Modern invites us to re-understand fictional text through the enlightened triadic paradigm gaze-memory-gender. In the discussion of Alain-Fourniers Le Grand Meaulnes, which has been read by generations of scholars and students for over a century, the application of the archetypal triad unveils great many new revelations. No doubt Le Grand Meaulnes will continue its presence as a modern classic in the French curriculum thanks to this books contribution for a nouvelle lecture.Didier Valéry, Professeur de lettres modernes, Académie de Montpellier, France Nelly G. Kupper has produced a provocative study that draws upon cognitive psychology and gender studies, archetypal patterns of heroism and plot, and the importance of the gaze. She offers a new interpretation of the Orpheus story whose backward glance would seem to contradict the forward thrust of the masculine pattern of heroism. She then turns to examine a modern version of this pattern through an interpretation of Alain-Fourniers Le Grand Meaulnes. Rich and wide-ranging, this study demonstrates the potential rewards of interdisciplinary approaches to literary criticism.Jenny Strauss Clay, Classics, University of Virginia Gaze, Memory, and Gender in Narrative from Ancient to Modern is a solid contribution to French studies, dealing with canonical texts, but it is also an ambitious project on a larger scale, which helps fill in some important gaps in our knowledge of the function of memory in fiction. What is particularly striking about this scholarship is the gender-specific dimension to the work, which explores whether women and men remember and represent memory differently. This book will reinvigorate the ongoing debate between social-constructivist and essentialist perceptions of how the brain and literature function in gendered contexts.Bent Sųrensen, President of the PsyArt Foundation; Associate Professor of Culture and Global Studies, Aalborg University, Denmark