French and Francophone Language and Literature Commons^™

Sacred Union And Sacred Violence In Tournier's Gilles Et Jeanne, David Doyle Drake

Theses and Dissertations

Written in 1983, the novella Gilles et Jeanne seems to be one of Michel Tournier's simpler works at first glance. Yet, for all of its simplicity, Tournier does not repress his desire to lace the tale with metaphoric and metaphysical symbolism. It is through a symbolic marriage on the battlefield that Tournier links the two characters in a sort of mystical union. All of the crimes following this ritual that precipitated Gilles descent into depravity were in fact an attempt to reunite with the departed spirit of his "spouse", either by mimetically recreating the circumstances of her death, or by …

Queening: Chess And Women In Medieval And Renaissance France, Regina L. O'Shea

Theses and Dissertations

This work explores the correlation between the game of chess and social conditions for women in both medieval and Renaissance France. Beginning with an introduction to the importance and symbolism of the game in European society and the teaching of the game to European nobility, this study theorizes how chess relates to gender politics in early modern France and how the game's evolution reflects the changing role of women. I propose that modifications to increase the directional and quantitative abilities of the Queen piece made at the close of the fifteenth century reflect changing attitudes towards women of the period, …

Sport As Art: The Female Athlete In French Literature, Christina Ann Tsaturyan

Theses and Dissertations

The modern conception of organized, codified sport originated in Europe during the 19th century. At this time, instructors began to institute the practice of certain physical activities at school as a means of teaching morals, forming character, and initiating social exchange. Sport is particularly appropriate for forming men because of its public, physical nature. The values it instills—courage, strength, leadership—are also decidedly masculine. What, then, is made of the female athlete? Are the noble qualities that sports affirm inapplicable to women? In this thesis, I argue that female participation in sports often leads to masculinization, unless the sport is transformed …

« Pour La Patrie, Par La Montagne » : Illustration De L’Imaginaire De La Conquête Dans Tartarin Sur Les Alpes D’Alphonse Daudet Et Là-Haut D’Édouard Rod, Anabelle Stephania Selway

Theses and Dissertations

La période 1870-1914 est une ère de paix relative pour la France. Apres la défaite de 1870, la politique revancharde française ranime les efforts impérialistes de colonisation en Afrique et dans les iles. Cet élan colonialiste se traduit dans la pratique du sport qui gagne de popularité et devient le moyen idéal d’acheminer les idéaux républicains. L’alpinisme et la course aux sommets des Alpes deviennent alors symboliques de l’imaginaire de conquête présent dans l’esprit de la bourgeoisie européenne.

Bien que ce phénomène soit l’objet de plusieurs études historico-culturelles, telles que celles d’Olivier Hoibian, Philippe Joutard et Dominique Lejeune, rares sont …

Nationalism In Charles De Gaulle's Speeches During World War Ii, Mayavel Amado

Theses and Dissertations

In a world where conflicts and supranational entities have emerged, nationalism has become an important topic for scholars in different fields. While much debate exists on what this term actually means and encompass, little attention has been paid to the rhetoric of nationalist leaders. Through scholarly and popular literature nationalism has often been confused with patriotism and populism. This work intends to look at what nationalism is, based on patterns drawn from observations in the rhetoric of nationalist leaders (sometimes opposing them to populist rhetoric) and at the same time it intends to expose Charles de Gaulle's nationalism in his …

La Misogynie À Visage Féminin: Hircan's Role As Marguerite's Anti-Feminist Voice In The Heptaméron (Vii & Xlix), Gregory Richard Jackson

Theses and Dissertations

The following document is a meta-commentary on the article, "La misogynie à visage féminin: Hircan's Role as Marguerite's Anti-feminist Voice in the Heptaméron (VII & XLIX)," co-authored by Dr. Robert J. Hudson and myself, which will shortly be submitted for publication. It contains an annotated bibliography of all our primary and secondary sources and an account of writing the article. Our article examines what Marguerite de Navarre, the sixteenth-century French Renaissance author of the Heptaméron (a collection 72 nouvelles, all supposedly true stories being told by a group of ten devisants to one another), intended by her …

The Search For The Sacred In Gabrielle Roy, Ann Elizabeth Sumsion

Theses and Dissertations

Many anthropological studies have shown the prevalence of the sacred in primitive societies, manifested primarily in significant gestures such as exchanges, rituals, festivals, and the use of time and space. Some studies, in particular those of Roger Caillois and Mircea Eliade, have demonstrated that traces of the sacred, though seemingly displaced, remain present in modern and secular societies. This thesis will examine and bring to light these remnants of sacred behavior in the contemporary settings of the stories of Gabrielle Roy, focusing primarily on food-sharing, gift-giving, and festivals. Each analysis presented will detail how different aspects of the sacred are …

Images Of Corsica In France: Travel Memoirs And 19th Century Writers, James Oliver Mayo

Theses and Dissertations

Considered an integral part of Metropolitan France, the island of Corsica is situated nonetheless on the very periphery of the modern state that claims it. Actually situated geographically closer to Italy than to any part of France, its culture and its people are likewise more closely related to their Italians neighbors than to the rest of what Corsicans term "Continental France." Following the acquisition of Corsica, both government officials and bourgeois travelers would seek to visit the island, often recording their findings and publishing these memoirs for others to know of their travels. This concept of travel memoirs, specifically those …

In The Company Of Cheaters (16th-Century Aristocrats And 20th-Century Gangsters), Mark Cammeron Murdock

Theses and Dissertations

This document contains a meta-commentary on the article that I co-authored with Dr. Corry Cropper entitled Breaking the Duel's Rules: Brantôme, Mérimée, and Melville, that will be published in the next issue of Essays in French Literature and Culture, and an annotated bibliography of primary and secondary sources featuring summaries and important quotes dealing with duels, honor, honor codes, cheating, historical causality, chance, and sexuality. Also, several examples of film noir are cited with brief summaries and key events noted. The article we wrote studies two instances of cheating in duels: one found in Brantôme's Discours sur les duels and …

Female Allegory As Anti-Nationalist Satire In "L'Attaque Du Moulin" And "Boule De Suif", Deborah Bailey

Theses and Dissertations

The year 1880 was rife with nationalist fervor and a general glorification of the French nation through imagery, literature and legislation. However, at this same time, Les Soirées de Médan, a collection of stories concerning the Franco-Prussian war also appear, bringing with them a distinctly anti-nationalist, harsh, and unforgiving view of the war and France's role in it. This thesis will examine personifications of France within L'attaque du Moulin and Boule de suif, the first two texts of Les Soirées de Médan, and their definite lack of the nationalist enthusiasm that characterized the time of their creation. The study of …

French Laïcité And The Popularity Of The Pacs, Ashley Gaylene Trupp Mattson

Theses and Dissertations

Civil unions are currently a divisive issues in the United States. Religion has historically influenced these debates. The French version of civil union, the Pacte Civil de Solidarité (Pacs,) was created in 1999 after seven years of debate. Many have written about the Pacs in the last decade. However, few have explored the direct correlations with France's relationship with Catholicism, her dominant religion that is doctrinally opposed to any sexual relationships outside of marriage. Laïcité has influenced a steady decrease in religiosity among French Catholics. This thesis explores the impact of this religious decline on the creation and surprising popularity …

The Ugly Side Of The Beautiful Game - Hooliganism In French Football, Carlos Josue Amado

Theses and Dissertations

Football violence was a rare phenomenon in France until the nineteen eighties. Harsh economic times coupled with the challenges of unemployment brought a different type of fanatic to football stadia. To vent their frustration about the economic difficulties of their time, some fans found an easy scapegoat: the increasing number of African immigrants in France. These fans, known as hooligans, have become organized and can be found supporting most major French football clubs, disrupting what once was a relatively tranquil national pastime. This thesis traces their development in France, looks at what they borrowed from Italian and English fan groups, …

Voltaire: From Sacrificial To Judicial System In The Play The Orphan Of China, Huichun Fang

Theses and Dissertations

Voltaire began his career in literature by writing for the theater. One of his plays, The Orphan of China, was an adaptation of a Chinese play, The Orphan of the Mansion Tchao. Many critics contend that in this play Voltaire is: 1. Propagating the spirit of the Enlightenment to the Europeans via his representation of the Chinese; 2. Refuting Rousseau because he condemns civilization as the source of men's suffering and pain; and 3. Lacking in understanding of Chinese history during the Mongolian invasion. This thesis will argue that critics have not examined the essential philosophical theory in The Orphan …

Spatial Practices Of Icarian Communism, John Derek Mccorquindale

Theses and Dissertations

Prior to the 1848 Revolution in France, a democrat and communist named Étienne Cabet organized one of the largest worker's movements in Europe. Called "Icarians," members of this party ascribed to the social philosophy and utopian vision outlined in Cabet's 1840 novel, Voyage en Icarie, written while in exile. This thesis analyzes the conception of space developed in Cabet's book, and tracks the group's actual spatial practice over the next seventeen years. During this period, thousands of Icarians led by Cabet attempted to establish an actual colony in the wilderness of the United States. Eventually settling in the recently …

Les Pas Perdus: Images Of Feet And Shoes In Surrealist Art, Emily Patricia Asplund

Theses and Dissertations

Although feet and shoes appear throughout surrealist visual art, their significance within surrealist theory has not been studied as thoroughly as other familiar themes of surrealist art, such as the eye or the hat. The purpose of this project is to recover feet and shoes from their lowly position and to uncover their meaning and function in surrealist theory, particularly the theory of Georges Bataille. Feet were implicitly important to surrealists like André Breton and Louis Aragon, whose early and central literary texts were based on their favorite pastime: flânerie or wandering the streets of Paris. Images of feet can …

Marcel Schwob Digital Collection, Michele B. Squires

Theses and Dissertations

This project outlines the discovery and digitization of previously unpublished correspondence composed by late 19th century author and literary critic, Marcel Schwob. Inspired by the inquiry of Bibliothèque Nationale Librarian Bernard Gauthier, Professor Daryl Lee alerted me to the presence of Marcel Schwob materials at BYU. I found that former BYU Professor John Green established a Marcel Schwob Memorial Collection and successfully published two books using the materials he gathered: Chroniques and Correspondance Inédite. After thoroughly researching the catalogued Schwob materials at BYU and comparing the contents to other Schwob publications, I found 72 previously unpublished letters. The majority of …

Women Troubadours In Southern France, Catherine Christine Ganiere

Theses and Dissertations

In the twelfth and thirteenth centuries women troubadours in southern France called trobairitz participated in dialogue or debate poems called tensons with male troubadours. Of the nine existing tensons that include a male and a female voice, we will only analyze five tensons with the known identities of both the trobairitz and the troubadour that debate the subject of love, and we will include the following trobairitz tensons in this paper: Alamanda, Isabella, Garsenda, Lombarda and Maria de Ventadorn. We will discuss the thematic elements these five tensons share. Scholars such as Pierre Bec, Peter Dronke and Katharina Wilson note …

La Guérison Par Le Récit Chez Gabrielle Roy, Kathleen L. Byrne

Theses and Dissertations

The therapeutic nature of Gabrielle Roy's works enables an Aristotelian catharsis to take place for her audience. As her readers plunge into their individual past, they can have an awakening. Upon realizing that the characters in Roy's literary creation hold to a specific definition of elusive happiness and after discovering that they also are plagued by a fixation to some type of Freudian trauma, the readers can recognize similar behavior in themselves. Though likely they were unconscious of their ongoing distress before, now it becomes clear that their tendency to displace themselves in pursuit of a utopian existence is perpetual …

29 Mai 2005 : Le "Non" Franais Au Traite Etablissant Une Constitution Pour L'Europe: Analyse D'Un Evenement Historique, Symbole D'Un Malaise, Baptiste Marc Prévôt

Theses and Dissertations

Le but de cette thèse est de présenter une vue d’ensemble du Traité constitutionnel européen, et d’apporter une explication quant à son rejet par une majorité d’électeurs français lors du référendum tenu le 29 mai 2005. Dans un premier temps, nous présenterons les fondements et principes de cette constitution, mais aussi certaines idées faisant débat au sein de l’Union européenne afin d’en comprendre les enjeux. Ensuite, nous considérerons des points de vue partagés ou divergents parmi les partis et les politiciens qui ont appelé à voter NON parmi la gauche, l’extrême gauche, la droite et l’extrême droite. Enfin, nous tâcherons …

Chateaubriand's René As A Philosophical Reaction To The Enlightenment And Early Romantic Sentiment, Christopher Martin Flood

Theses and Dissertations

For over 200 years “René&rqduo; Chateaubriand's short fictional interlude in his grand argument for the restoration of Christianity after the French Revolution, has been read as the founding text of the French Romantic movement. While this text did in fact serve to define many of the characteristics of French Romantic literature, simply labeling it as such is anachronistic and obscures the more profound philosophical and theological claims Chateaubriand was actually attempting to illustrate. After an examination of the discrepancy between the author's intentions and the general perception, this study will briefly consider some of the traditional readings of “René” specifically …

Je Vis, Donc Je Vois, Donc Je Dis: Banlieue Violence In French Rap, Schyler B. Chennault

Theses and Dissertations

Since its creation over two decades ago, French rap music has evolved to become both wildly popular and highly controversial. It has been the subject of legal debate because of its violent content, and accused of encouraging violent behavior. This thesis explores the French M.C.'s role as representative and reporter of the France's suburbs, la Banlieue, and contains analyses of French rap lyrics to determine the rappers' perception of Banlieue violence. Using the song lyrics, this work examines the conditions and causes of that violence as seen by the Banlieusard, and answers the critics' accusations that French rap is a …

Hidden Doublings: A Context For Understanding Jean D'Arras's Mélusine Ou La Noble Histoire De Lusignan, Kathryn Rimmasch

Theses and Dissertations

At the end of the fourteenth century Jean d’Arras rewrote a popular folktale. The tale told how Mélusine, a fairy who was serpent from the navel down every Saturday, married a knight and founded the fortress of Lusignan. In his introduction to the tale Jean d’Arras presents the ideas of four authority figures to convince the reader that fantastical things are possible and that his work should be taken seriously. These authority figures are David, Aristotle, Paul and Gervaise de Tilbury. It is the contention of this thesis that Jean d’Arras presents these figures in his introduction to provide context …

Ionesco's Absurd Anthropology, Deborah Fuller

Theses and Dissertations

Eugène Ionesco's plays are often thought of only as absurd. This thesis explores another possible interpretation of his plays, including Rhinocèros, Le Roi se meurt, Jeux de massacre, Les Chaises, Victimes du devoir, La Jeune fille à marier, and La Leçon. These plays are investigated with the help of anthropologist René Girard's theory on ritual, violence, and sacrifice. Since these elements are recurring themes in Ionesco's plays, Girard's theory is a useful key to unlocking what may seem at times to be nothing but nonsense, but is full of meaning. In the first …

Rituel Du Retour Dans L'Oeuvre De Gabrielle Roy, Eve-Marie Julia David

Theses and Dissertations

The work of Gabrielle Roy cannot be dissociated from the story of her life. Many have already tried to establish a definite connection between these two aspects of her life. Among the themes that are ever present in her texts and of particular interest to readers is her preoccupation with the past. The text of Mircea Eliade is important to the theoretical framework of the following thesis. His postulating that human beings constantly repeat their past to find meaning to their lives is capital to my analysis of Gabrielle Roy's texts. Indeed, her preoccupation with the past stems from a …

The French Expatriate Assignment: Helping Accompanying Spouses To Adapt By Assuming The Role Of Anthropologist, Angela Marsha Williams

Theses and Dissertations

A common practice of multinational companies is to temporarily transfer employees to international locations in order to exchange technology, launch new ventures, and facilitate communication within the company. To do this, multinational companies must make a number of decisions regarding their expatriate programs. Even though international companies would rather stay focused on the professional performance of their employees without having to "meddle" in personal and family affairs, recent research has shown that the adaptation of the accompanying spouse is one of the most critical factors in expatriate assignment success or failure. By studying the available literature on expatriate spouse adaptation, …

Language Attrition In French-Speaking Missionaries, Peggy S. Mauerman

Theses and Dissertations

Patterns of language loss were analyzed in twenty-five returned French-speaking missionaries who had spent from one-and-a-half to two years in a French-speaking environment and who had returned to the United States from four months to five years ago. The subjects were given a written vocabulary test and an oral interview to determine their proficiency in the language. The results of this study showed that the patterns or change in particular language forms varied according to each language form. Some categories showed an obvious pattern of loss while some varied from year to year, with no pattern of any kind in …