Documents found
-
191.
-
192.
-
193.More information
AbstractBased on the definition of iconicity given by Tony Jappy (" l'ensemble des propriétés qualitatives, formelles, hérité de son objet dynamique par un signe donné "), this article presents a semiotic analysis of a visual allegory, namely Britannia, national icon of Great Britain.In its plastic form, allegory is a visual discourse constructed around iconic signs. This analysis seeks to examine the semiosis process activated by the visual allegory, when it takes the form of a complex icon, as it is the case in Britannia. Using Peirce's categories and terminology, my analysis will focus on the structure of inferences that allegory as a sign draws on in the interpretant, and on the constraint it imposes to the interpretive process. By proposing a more systematic and closed parallelism between sign and object than that of metaphor itself, the allegory suggests a more extended activation of the various logics of inference - deduction, induction, abduction - suggested by Peirce. My analysis will be supported by illustrations which, in showing some of the multiple visual forms taken by Britannia as an icon, underline a central paradox found in visual allegories - that of mobility within unity, both on the levels of interpretation and of representation.
-
196.
-
197.More information
This article analyzes the ways by which the racial construction of two Polynesians, Ahutoru and Omai, has taken place in France and England between 1769-1776. Instead of considering the indigenous through morphological criteria, most of Europeans racial representations were founded on the confrontation between the experience of alterity and the growing expectations toward Aotourou and Omai. To which extent the sociocultural conjecture of the European aristocracy became crucial in the racialization process. If one indigenous showed marks of virtue and was respectful of the European elites' socio-cultural practices, he was associated to the idealist “noble savage” representation, while the contrary led to a much inferior representation named “ignoble savage”.
-
198.More information
As the work of critic Michael Finn has demonstrated, while Marcel Proust has a generally dismissive attitude towards the work of Alexandre Dumas fils, the latter’s character Marguerite Gauthier nonetheless inspired Proust’s portrayal of Odette Swann in A la recherche du temps perdu. This article builds on the work of Finn to establish narrative and character parallels between Proust’s novel and Dumas fils’ La Dame aux Camélias, and proposes that, given these clear resemblances, closely examining the ways in which Odette differs from Marguerite will help us understand the stylistic specificities of these novels. I ultimately argue that the portrayal of these courtesan figures echoes the formal properties of the novels themselves. Dumas fils’ novel and the character of Marguerite tend towards epistemological clarity and certainty, whereas Proust’s novel, and the character of Odette, reveal an open and heterogenous literary universe.
-
199.More information
Several contemporary writers redefine the role of the saint in the mortuary rites around the death of the Messiah. While centuries of religious painting have transmitted the image of a Mary Magdalene in tears at the foot of the cross, some authors rather emphasize her stoicism, or, on the contrary, her deep psychological distress. Moreover, the mourning woman often supplants the penitent in the evocations of the post-testamentary life of Mary Magdalene, who appears more as a grieving widow than as a repentant sinner. Some writers also illustrate the saint's insight, fully confident in the fulfillment of the Resurrection, with the absence of ointment on Easter morning: the miracle obviously makes the mortuary toilet useless. In contrast, the anointing of Bethany, a metaphor for both the royal coronation and the anticipated embalming of Christ, regularly holds the attention of contemporary writers. Once again, the young woman's discernment is put forward: she understands, before the other disciples, the need to prepare the death of the Nazarene. Mary Magdalene therefore accompanies Christ at every step of his journey into the hereafter – towards death and in victory over death – and undoubtedly assumes the role of psychopomp. In the light of those reinterpretations of the figure of Mary Magdalene, this article studies representations of Mary Magdalene in relation to Christ' death in Western literature of the 20th and the 21st centuries, particularly since the 1980s.
Keywords: Sainte Marie-Madeleine, littérature contemporaine, pleureuses, larmes, myrophore, psychopompe, deuil, embaumement, onguent, Passion, Saint Mary-Magdalene, contemporary literature, mourners, tears, myrrophore, psychopomp, bereavement, embalming, ointment, Passion
-
200.