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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Format: | Thesis |
Language: | English |
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2015
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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> |
first_indexed | 2024-03-06T18:49:41Z |
format | Thesis |
id | oxford-uuid:0fcd5792-a961-4e37-b0ae-9ba02872b6a8 |
institution | University of Oxford |
language | English |
last_indexed | 2024-12-09T03:29:52Z |
publishDate | 2015 |
record_format | dspace |
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 |