Browsing by Author "Shryock, Richard L."

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    À Propos de nous : à la découverte du trésor caché de la poésie de Pascale Petit
    Riley, Annetta Adele (Virginia Tech, 2020-09-29)
    Ce mémoire fait une exploration textuelle et théorique des œuvres de Pascale Petit, une poète française contemporaine dont la poésie crée des mondes fantaisistes qui brouillent les lignes entre la réalité et la fiction. Alors que certains de ses poèmes ont été recensés en revue, son œuvre plus large attend toujours l'analyse. Ce mémoire fait donc un premier effort à l'analyse de onze de ses poèmes, vers les buts d'évaluer le style poétique de Petit, de comprendre son approche à la poésie et de la situer parmi ses collègues contemporains. La discussion commence avec un aperçu sur les tendances actuelles dans la poésie française contemporaine, surtout par rapport au style de Petit. Elle continue avec une investigation de la performativité et du panoptique dans sa poésie, ainsi qu'une évaluation de son lyrisme subtil et les rôles que jouent l'identité et l'intertextualité dans les textes choisis. Au cours de l'étude l'accent est sur la manière dont la Poète développe un rapport avec le lecteur et l'invite à participer activement à créer du sens avec elle à travers ses poèmes.
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    Appréciation thermodynamique des Rougon-Macquart d'Émile Zola
    Mahan, James R. (Virginia Tech, 2024-08-13)
    In 1975 the eminent French philosopher and historian of science, Michel Serres, published Feux et signaux de brume: Zola, in which he postulates that the well-known Rougon-Macquart series by Émile Zola was an "epic of entropy." His seminal book stirred up interest in the Zola criticism community, with several literary scholars seeking to interpret the work of the founder of the naturalism movement in terms of thermodynamics. This thesis was partially informed by our reading of Serres' book, enlightened by our own expertise as an engineer specializing in the field of thermodynamics. We hypothesize that the difference between Zola's somber naturalism and the more optimistic literary realism movement from which it emerged in the latter half of the 19th century reflects the timely appearance and vulgarization of thermodynamic principles in the French popular press. We begin by presenting an overview of this then-new branch of science, whose foundations were established by Nicolas Sadi Carnot in 1824 and whose maturation was assured, principally by Rudolf Clausius, between 1850 and 1865. We then present the thermodynamic principles which we postulate arguably could have played a determinant role in the emergence of Zola's naturalism in 1870, as outlined in his Roman experimental (1880). Foremost among these is the celebrated Second Law and its distressing consequence to many, the inevitable entropy death of the universe. Having established the fundamental concepts of thermodynamics, we undertake an analysis of Serres' book aimed at exposing and critically commenting on the theoretical basis of his thermodynamic reading of Zola. We then follow the same approach in our analysis of several critical articles from the archival literature that owe their genesis to Serres' work. Finally, we undertake a close reading of three novels from the Rougon-Macquart series that we have either not considered elsewhere in the thesis or whose thermodynamic implications we have not yet exhausted: Nana, La Bête humaine, and L'Assommoir. According to the hypothesis of this thesis, Zola consistently followed the same disastrous paradigm, informed by thermodynamic principles, when he imagined the disastrous life trajectories of his principal characters. We have applied a version of this paradigm in interpreting our own close reading of a representative sample of works from the Rougon-Macquart series. Michel Serres sought to point out the obvious parallels that exist between the catastrophic nature of the series and the Second Law of Thermodynamics. We wish to go a bit further in promoting the idea that the transformation of literary realism into Zola's brand of naturalism may have been prompted by the vulgarization of thermodynamics in the contemporary popular press. Lastly, the content of this master's thesis provides a new perspective to and vocabulary for naturalist criticism.
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    Book review: "Shryock on Forrest (2020)"
    Shryock, Richard L. (University of Nebraska Press, 2021)
    Review of Decadent Aesthetics and the Acrobat in Fin-de-Siècle France, by Jennifer Forrest, Routledge, 2020.
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    The Convent: A Place of Refuge in Les Misérables and Histoire de ma vie
    Fleming, Teresa Apple (Virginia Tech, 2020-04-10)
    In the nineteenth century, amidst the rise of anti-Catholicism in the Western world, narratives served as a persuasive medium to influence the reading public. Anti-clerical sentiment was conveyed in various forms of text, often depicting the Catholic convent as a place of sinister confinement. This thesis offers an alternative representation of the French nineteenth-century convent. Considering the prevailing social, economic, and political environment in France, along with the conception of social space, I argue that the convent represents a place of sanctuary and opportunity for some women and girls. Further, in view of Victor Hugo's Les Misérables, I examine the representation of the convent as a place for rebirth. Likewise, in analyzing George Sand's autobiography Histoire de ma vie, I explore the representation of the convent as a haven for reviving creativity. Thus, by close reading and critical examination of these literary representations, I contend that the nineteenth-century convent can provide a place of refuge.
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    Gustave Kahn. Un ecrivain engage
    Shryock, Richard L. (2014-02-18)
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    Heroics and humanism: A study of intra-genre divergence within modern French fantasy literature
    Sielaff, Kevin Michael (Virginia Tech, 2022-06-17)
    This study explores the manner in which modern French fantasy novels have diverged from the Tolkienian, high-fantasy precedent established in the late 90s and the very early 2000s. From 2010–2020, authors Jean-Philippe Jaworski, Justine Niogret, Pierre Pevel, and Claire Duvivier have re-imagined the fantasy realm by deliberately working in opposition to the tropes of high-fantasy. The following work is split into two segments–the first of which analyzes how this high-fantasy divergence manifests within the evolved role of the hero, as it pertains to Jaworski, Pevel, and Niogret. The latter tackles the inverse, being the de-heroized, humanist approach of Duvivier that further depicts how the genre continues to evolve. Through a varying theoretical framework, this interdisciplinary work establishes that the following novels mutually support one another in an effort to diverge from the historic, high-fantasy precedent: Jaworski's Gagner la guerre (2009), Niogret's Chien du heaume (2010), Pevel's Le Chevalier (2015), Duvivier's Un long voyage (2020).
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    Jules Laforgue à Gustave Kahn en passant par Charles Henry
    Shryock, Richard L. (2023-11-29)
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    L'impérialisme linguistique au Québec des années 1965-1975: Analyses littéraires de Speak White (Michèle Lalonde) et Salut, Galarneau! (Jacques Godbout)
    Melaku, Azeb (Virginia Tech, 2019-02-15)
    Dans la foulée de la Révolution tranquille qui démarre au début de 1960 et s’étend jusqu’à la fin des années 1970, le Québec connaît une période de secousses terribles liées à la demande d’un statut défini de la langue française et de l’identité des Québécois. Les francophones sont soumis à l’hégémonie anglo-saxonne, et la langue est le facteur qui décide leur statut économique. Les luttes linguistiques pour un statut équitable par rapports aux anglophones – luttes qui se sont poursuivies pendant les siècles précédents -- s’intensifient surtout dans la décennie de 1965-1975. C’est l’époque où, au Québec, l’enjeu linguistique devint la plus grande préoccupation des gouvernements (fédéral et provincial), conséquemment entraîna la promulgation de nombreuses lois diverses. La période est aussi marquée par la prise de parole des élites comme Jacques Godbout et Michèle Lalonde. La présente thèse fait une analyse littéraire de leurs œuvres -- respectivement, Salut Galarneau ! et Speak White. Toutes deux ressortent comme l’expression du Québécois ordinaire contre l’hégémonie anglo-saxonne et anglo-américaine qu’il a subie dans les domaines socioculturel, économique, politique mais en particulier, linguistique. Aussi, dans le climat tendu de la fin des années 1960 par les revendications profondes, ces deux œuvres sonnent comme un réveil fort aux oreilles du Québécois : l’état de sa langue est en grand danger et ainsi son identité, sa survivance!
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    La littérature française du vingtième siècle entre la mémoire et l’oubli: Proust, Beckett, Perec, et Blanchot; Twentieth Century French Literature between memory and forgetting: Proust, Beckett, Perec, and Blanchot
    Baek, Jiewon (Virginia Tech, 2010-04-06)
    In the course of the twentieth century, the representation of the relationship between time, narrative, and memory in French literature undergoes a change. Proust's A la recherche du temps perdu evidences the power of memory to synthesize separate moments through a work of art and embodies the thesis of Paul Ricoeur on the interdependency of time and narrative. This proustian synthesis becomes almost impossible for Samuel Beckett, George Perec, and Maurice Blanchot, who encounter the disappearance of memory preserved in the narrative space. Not only in the face of the spatialization of memory in the increasing development of mass media, which Walter Benjamin criticizes, but also in the face of the deterioration of space, the translation of a temporalized memory into a coherent story cannot continue. From Proust's immense edifice of memory, to Beckett's invention, to Perec's spatial preservation of vanished time, to Blanchot's désoeuvrement, the works of these authors traverse the wide span between memory and forgetting in literature. This paper integrates these authors who diverge in the direction of memory, on the one hand, and in the direction of forgetting, on the other. This integration forms passageways that make possible the exchange between these two ends. Communication continues in the gap where memory and forgetting are reflections of each other.
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    Lettres de Juan Gris à Maurice Raynal
    Shryock, Richard L. (2023-12-27)
  • Louise Michel and "Le Symbole"
    Shryock, Richard L. (2022-11-03)
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    Models and Their Artists: The Dichotomous Representation of Women in The Unknown Masterpiece, Manette Salomon and The Masterpiece
    Donaldson, Sharon Olivia (Virginia Tech, 2000-05-09)
    This thesis proposes to analyze the dichotomous representation of the female model as benevolent and malevolent in three 19th-century French novels. Honoré de Balzac's The Unknown Masterpiece (1834), Jules and Edmond de Goncourt's Manette Salomon (1867), and Émile Zola's The Masterpiece (1886) are all novels set in artist's workshops and all portray the female model as playing an essential role in determining the success, then demise of the male painter. My study of these texts will therefore focus on the juxtaposed presentations of the female models in terms of their relationships to the male artists. It will reveal how as the artists succeed in transforming their models' bodies into aesthetic nudes and containing these representations within the parameters of their canvases as a means of asserting their authority, the models are positively portrayed. On the contrary, when the artists fail to transform and contain their models' bodies, these female characters are negatively depicted as being the source of the painters' ruin. By examining this dichotomous representation of the female models, I will reveal the complex means by which the patriarchal order within the texts oppresses the female characters.
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    Models of Utopia: Representations of Nineteenth-Century Paris
    Stone, Shiloh Joseph (Virginia Tech, 2013-12-19)
    In the texts analyzed in this thesis, nineteenth-century Paris illustrates the utopian principles formulated by Karl Mannheim whose conceptualizations concern the social and moral order that makes up human existence. His utopia is characterized by human thoughts, behaviors, and actions. In our analysis of the works by Charles Fourier, Victor Hugo, and Emile Zola, common themes emerge as each writer undertakes the task of representing the past, present, and future Paris. They describe ideas of poverty, sickness, and revolution as well as the importance of education, progress, and moral order. The most telling conclusion of utopia unveiled in the thesis is that each writer also depicts his vision of Paris with a specific and unique designation. For Fourier, a utopian Paris is described as Harmony. A harmonious state of being represents a society built on agreement, cooperation, and order. Hugo's representation of Paris comes under the epithet of Humanity and Fraternity. Hugo believes that Paris held the key to unlocking a society built on benevolence, cooperation, and camaraderie. Zola designates Paris as Modernity. For Zola, modernity creates a paradox of utopia/dystopia and order/disorder. However, Paris offers the hope of a ville beatitude wherein the well-being of all the families would be of highest priority to create happiness, security, and order. Though each writer had a different idealization of Paris, the analysis of utopian mentalities foregrounds their outlook on not only the city-space but of humanity which held much promise for harmony, happiness, and order in a future "utopian" state.
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    Motivations for Studying French: Language Orientations and Expectancy-Value Theory
    Newbill, Paula Brown (Virginia Tech, 2009-03-30)
    French enrollment is not increasing at the rate of other modern languages in higher education in the United States. This study attempted to bring to light the reasons for studying the language and focused on the orientations, expectancies, and values students have for studying French at a large, public university. The mixed methods research investigated students' reasons for enrolling in an intermediate French course with a self-report survey including short answer questions. The aim of this principally quantitative study was to understand why students choose to study French by comparing the subscales within the orientations and expectancy-value scales. The foreign language orientation subscales used were: travel, knowledge, relationships, instrumentality, and the sociocultural orientation. For the expectancy-value scale, the subscales included: expectancy, intrinsic value, attainment value, and utility value. The mean values of the survey items were compared in an ANOVA framework. Relationships within the two scales were analyzed using a Pearson's correlation calculation. Finally, a linear regression was used to analyze the subscales as predictors of continuation of French study. Short answer responses supported the quantitative data through resulting themes and sub-themes. The data were merged in a validating quantitative data model of mixed methods. Results for foreign language choice pointed to travel reasons, such as the desire to spend time abroad, and intrinsic interest in the language. Students were likely to continue studying French due to sociocultural reasons, such as understanding French films and music, and due to instrumental reasons involving career and grades. The attainment or importance subscale of the expectancy-value scale was the best predictor of continuation. The short answer qualitative data were transformed to show the significant subscale orientations with corresponding sub-themes. The triangulation offered insight into FL choice and communication with people in francophone countries. The findings also suggested that students continue studying French due to particular career choices. Teaching implications and further study suggestions offer ideas for the significant subscales. The subscales that obtained low mean values in FL choice are also included in the implications section. This is due to the fact that the low scoring subscales are areas that have not been explored to encourage French study. Further study is needed to provide more details about students' experiences through interviews and to implement educational suggestions with enrollment tracking. The mixed methods design offers a base for similar FL motivation studies in the future.
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    Mouvoir dans l'espace: une esthétique musico-poétique chez Debussy et Mallarmé
    Bowman, Daniel Stewart (Virginia Tech, 2013-06-12)
    The relationship between music and poetry dramatically changed in France during the nineteenth century.  Music took a prominent place in artistic life, and certain figures of the era argued for its superiority over poetry.  Richard Wagner convinced many artists of the time of the need to subsume poetry into music for the sake of creating a Gesamtkunstwerk, or a total work of art.  The result of this dialogue can best be examined by studying the relationship between the composer Claude Debussy and the poet Stéphane Mallarmé.  In response to the challenge issued by Wagner, Mallarmé argued strongly for the place of poetry.  Though he argued against Wagnerism specifically, Mallarmé admired the expressive capabilities of music, which is a constant presence in his poetry.  Debussy found his greatest source of inspiration from the poets of Mallarmé's generation.  Rather than following the example of Wagner and other Romantic-era composers, Debussy saw poets as the avant-garde, and sought to capture their poetry in his music.   Both of these figures, inspired by the relationship between music and poetry, produced very forward-thinking works, and serve as transitional figures for their respective arts.  Each using techniques inspired by the other\'s art, Debussy and Mallarmé both make use of non-traditional forms, a sense of movement, and a profound use of silence in order to best express the Ideal.
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    The Representation of Jewelry in 19th-Century French Literature
    Capone, Caitlin Chew (Virginia Tech, 2023-06-01)
    Often overlooked, yet still a significant and visible social code, jewelry and its symbolic power are barely analyzed in literary criticism. In this thesis, by tracing jewelry's various functions and representations throughout the 19th century, one discovers its ability to also blur and reinforce boundaries that so typifies the tensions and redefinitions happening throughout this era. With the rise of the bourgeoisie and industrial production, jewelry became more available to the masses than it ever had before. Its transformation occurred alongside the newfound desire for women to be seen, perhaps as a direct result of patriarchal society's attempt to relegate them to the private sphere where they were to carry out their domestic duties. For women, the beginning of the century marked itself as an "[époque] stricte, corsetée, guindée et protégée," the fin-de-siècle was an era that promoted the sensual liberation for women whose existence had been relegated to the private sphere to perform only domestic duties (Coupeau 85). Thus, by tracing jewelry's representation in the 19th century, I unveil how women broke through social restrictions by transforming their literal chains of submission and esclavage into pieces of adornment that brandished their desire to be seen, to be liberated, to be desired.
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