Awkwardness in Marcel Proust's 'A la recherche du temps perdu'

<p>This thesis examines awkwardness between characters in Marcel Proust's <em>A la recherche du temps perdu</em>. It offers the first full-length study of awkwardness in literary fiction, and provides a new prism through which to analyse many major characters in Proust's...

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Main Author: Richardson, Y
Other Authors: Yee, J
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: 2015
Subjects:
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author Richardson, Y
author2 Yee, J
author_facet Yee, J
Richardson, Y
author_sort Richardson, Y
collection OXFORD
description <p>This thesis examines awkwardness between characters in Marcel Proust's <em>A la recherche du temps perdu</em>. It offers the first full-length study of awkwardness in literary fiction, and provides a new prism through which to analyse many major characters in Proust's novel, and, crucially, their interactions. While the word "awkwardness" poses translation challenges, the thesis identifies a rich lexicon of French terms used by Proust to denote various aspects of the phenomenon: through close analysis of passages containing these terms, a coherent vision of awkwardness and its importance in the novel emerges. Awkwardness occurs in very different types of relationship – family, social, friendship and love – because, Proust stresses, human interaction is rarely easy. This latter point is not a new argument, but by focusing directly on the feelings of awkwardness which arise, original insights can be made about the specific challenges of communication, cohesion and desire in the <em>Recherche</em>. The thesis explores the degrees of togetherness and separation Proust depicts, and compares well-known scenes and neglected moments to their mutual illumination. We find that awkwardness is essential to the novel’s depiction of society in a state of rapid flux – the consequence of accelerated social change is escalated awkwardness – and that uncomfortable encounters with other people develop the protagonist’s relation with his own mind.</p>
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spelling oxford-uuid:0fcd5792-a961-4e37-b0ae-9ba02872b6a82024-12-01T12:35:27ZAwkwardness in Marcel Proust's 'A la recherche du temps perdu'Thesishttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_db06uuid:0fcd5792-a961-4e37-b0ae-9ba02872b6a8Proust, Marcel, 1871-1922EnglishORA Deposit2015Richardson, YYee, J<p>This thesis examines awkwardness between characters in Marcel Proust's <em>A la recherche du temps perdu</em>. It offers the first full-length study of awkwardness in literary fiction, and provides a new prism through which to analyse many major characters in Proust's novel, and, crucially, their interactions. While the word "awkwardness" poses translation challenges, the thesis identifies a rich lexicon of French terms used by Proust to denote various aspects of the phenomenon: through close analysis of passages containing these terms, a coherent vision of awkwardness and its importance in the novel emerges. Awkwardness occurs in very different types of relationship – family, social, friendship and love – because, Proust stresses, human interaction is rarely easy. This latter point is not a new argument, but by focusing directly on the feelings of awkwardness which arise, original insights can be made about the specific challenges of communication, cohesion and desire in the <em>Recherche</em>. The thesis explores the degrees of togetherness and separation Proust depicts, and compares well-known scenes and neglected moments to their mutual illumination. We find that awkwardness is essential to the novel’s depiction of society in a state of rapid flux – the consequence of accelerated social change is escalated awkwardness – and that uncomfortable encounters with other people develop the protagonist’s relation with his own mind.</p>
spellingShingle Proust, Marcel, 1871-1922
Richardson, Y
Awkwardness in Marcel Proust's 'A la recherche du temps perdu'
title Awkwardness in Marcel Proust's 'A la recherche du temps perdu'
title_full Awkwardness in Marcel Proust's 'A la recherche du temps perdu'
title_fullStr Awkwardness in Marcel Proust's 'A la recherche du temps perdu'
title_full_unstemmed Awkwardness in Marcel Proust's 'A la recherche du temps perdu'
title_short Awkwardness in Marcel Proust's 'A la recherche du temps perdu'
title_sort awkwardness in marcel proust s a la recherche du temps perdu
topic Proust, Marcel, 1871-1922
work_keys_str_mv AT richardsony awkwardnessinmarcelproustsalarecherchedutempsperdu