Cyrano de Bergerac: battling with narrative burlesque
<p>This thesis considers the burlesque literary forms in the work of the seventeenth-century writer, Cyrano de Bergerac. It challenges current scholarship by looking beyond libertinism to consider the importance of Cyrano's comic writing practices. While it does not deny the philosophical...
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
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2014
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| _version_ | 1797086705094754304 |
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| author | Turner, S |
| author2 | Viala, A |
| author_facet | Viala, A Turner, S |
| author_sort | Turner, S |
| collection | OXFORD |
| description | <p>This thesis considers the burlesque literary forms in the work of the seventeenth-century writer, Cyrano de Bergerac. It challenges current scholarship by looking beyond libertinism to consider the importance of Cyrano's comic writing practices. While it does not deny the philosophical and scientific focus of Cyrano's oeuvre, it suggests that the burlesque is a defining characteristic. By taking into account the literary context in which Cyrano was writing – notably the querelle des Lettres and the rise of the histoire comique – as well as looking at other comic writers that could have influenced Cyrano, and through close textual readings, this thesis reveals that burlesque forms are often used in excess in Cyrano's work – forms compete against forms – producing destructive effects; burlesque forms can, in effect, be self-defeating. This project then asks whether it is possible to consider Cyrano a comic writer at all. It does demonstrate, however, that, in ridiculing everyone and everything, Cyrano too makes a mockery of the very idea of a dissimulative text. In questioning the literary gesture that Cyrano makes through his battling burlesque forms, this thesis suggests that libertinism can appear to be one of many playful masks the author assumes in his work. Is Cyrano a burlesque libertine? If so, this thesis raises the wider question of whether there are other imposters within the ranks.</p> |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-07T02:25:45Z |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oxford-uuid:a589190d-3abd-48f2-82d3-95b0b6ce0663 |
| institution | University of Oxford |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-07T02:25:45Z |
| publishDate | 2014 |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | oxford-uuid:a589190d-3abd-48f2-82d3-95b0b6ce06632022-03-27T02:41:08ZCyrano de Bergerac: battling with narrative burlesqueThesishttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_db06uuid:a589190d-3abd-48f2-82d3-95b0b6ce0663Literatures of Romance languagesFrenchIntellectual HistoryHistoryEarly Modern Britain and EuropeLanguages (Medieval and Modern) and non-English literatureEconomic and Social HistoryEnglishOxford University Research Archive - Valet2014Turner, SViala, A<p>This thesis considers the burlesque literary forms in the work of the seventeenth-century writer, Cyrano de Bergerac. It challenges current scholarship by looking beyond libertinism to consider the importance of Cyrano's comic writing practices. While it does not deny the philosophical and scientific focus of Cyrano's oeuvre, it suggests that the burlesque is a defining characteristic. By taking into account the literary context in which Cyrano was writing – notably the querelle des Lettres and the rise of the histoire comique – as well as looking at other comic writers that could have influenced Cyrano, and through close textual readings, this thesis reveals that burlesque forms are often used in excess in Cyrano's work – forms compete against forms – producing destructive effects; burlesque forms can, in effect, be self-defeating. This project then asks whether it is possible to consider Cyrano a comic writer at all. It does demonstrate, however, that, in ridiculing everyone and everything, Cyrano too makes a mockery of the very idea of a dissimulative text. In questioning the literary gesture that Cyrano makes through his battling burlesque forms, this thesis suggests that libertinism can appear to be one of many playful masks the author assumes in his work. Is Cyrano a burlesque libertine? If so, this thesis raises the wider question of whether there are other imposters within the ranks.</p> |
| spellingShingle | Literatures of Romance languages French Intellectual History History Early Modern Britain and Europe Languages (Medieval and Modern) and non-English literature Economic and Social History Turner, S Cyrano de Bergerac: battling with narrative burlesque |
| title | Cyrano de Bergerac: battling with narrative burlesque |
| title_full | Cyrano de Bergerac: battling with narrative burlesque |
| title_fullStr | Cyrano de Bergerac: battling with narrative burlesque |
| title_full_unstemmed | Cyrano de Bergerac: battling with narrative burlesque |
| title_short | Cyrano de Bergerac: battling with narrative burlesque |
| title_sort | cyrano de bergerac battling with narrative burlesque |
| topic | Literatures of Romance languages French Intellectual History History Early Modern Britain and Europe Languages (Medieval and Modern) and non-English literature Economic and Social History |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT turners cyranodebergeracbattlingwithnarrativeburlesque |