La sympathie dans l'univers de Marguerite Yourcenar.
Date
2007
Authors
Gagnon, Therese.
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Dalhousie University
Abstract
Description
This dissertation examines the notion of sympathy in the universe of Marguerite Yourcenar and the pre-conditions for its full development: the sculpture of the self and the interaction between oneself and others. The Yourcenarian universe is composed of the unique frame containing the fascinating works and life of the author, the works of her biographers and the para-literature which complements the author's major texts. As the analysis of sympathy alone cannot do justice to its emergence, development, and enrichment, we have constructed a bridge between that notion and the sculpture of the self and the interaction between the self and others, in order to better delimit the nature and nurture characteristics of sympathy because, while it might be found naturally in all individuals, sympathy will only emerge and evolve due to the development of the personality based on the inner reflections of any given person and, at least in the case of the author, on the interactions between oneself and an other who takes on the characteristics of a hero.
The foundations of Marguerite Yourcenar's sculpture of the self---the attentive and distant gaze, the reading and writing processes, the knowledge of antiquity, the contact with and imagination of exceptional beings, and her travels---gave the author the opportunities to reach the individuation on which is built the dialogue between the self and the unconscious, to solidify herself and to better interact with and care for others. Such caring gave birth to many forms of sympathy in the Yourcenarian universe such as sympathy-harmony-constraint-openness, compassion, empathy, heteropathic and idiopathic fusions, and artistic projection, all of which may be found in the interaction between the author and her peers, in the mediumnic character of her writing process, in the orientation toward the protection of flora and fauna, and in her life's testimony. The notions of the self and the other will also be discussed in relation to the experiences of author's well-known characters such as Alexis's difficulty to successfully deal with the collective unconscious; the unique way in which Zeno takes care of himself, Hadrian's pathway to the apex of the Roman Empire and his subsequent care for others; and Nathanael's apparent drifting, his instinctive self-preservation, and his subtle criticism of others.
Thesis (Ph.D.)--Dalhousie University (Canada), 2007.
The foundations of Marguerite Yourcenar's sculpture of the self---the attentive and distant gaze, the reading and writing processes, the knowledge of antiquity, the contact with and imagination of exceptional beings, and her travels---gave the author the opportunities to reach the individuation on which is built the dialogue between the self and the unconscious, to solidify herself and to better interact with and care for others. Such caring gave birth to many forms of sympathy in the Yourcenarian universe such as sympathy-harmony-constraint-openness, compassion, empathy, heteropathic and idiopathic fusions, and artistic projection, all of which may be found in the interaction between the author and her peers, in the mediumnic character of her writing process, in the orientation toward the protection of flora and fauna, and in her life's testimony. The notions of the self and the other will also be discussed in relation to the experiences of author's well-known characters such as Alexis's difficulty to successfully deal with the collective unconscious; the unique way in which Zeno takes care of himself, Hadrian's pathway to the apex of the Roman Empire and his subsequent care for others; and Nathanael's apparent drifting, his instinctive self-preservation, and his subtle criticism of others.
Thesis (Ph.D.)--Dalhousie University (Canada), 2007.
Keywords
Literature, Romance.