Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Girard, Rene, 1927-'

Pour René Girard et Milan Kundera le roman est avant tout une voie de connaissance. Cette étude, portant sur les essais des deux auteurs sur l'art du roman, se donne pour tâche d'explorer cette conception. Nous nous sommes, d'abord, efforcé de saisir la façon dont Kundera et Girard perçoivent la fonction gnoséologique du roman, celle-ci se distinguant, complétant ou s'opposant au savoir des sciences humaines et de la philosophie. Dans un deuxième temps, nous nous sommes intéressé aux perspectives qu'une telle conception du roman ouvre pour la critique littéraire. Cette dernière, subissant une crise provoquée par la prise de conscience des impasses du structuralisme et l'émergence des études culturelles, essaie de redéfinir tant sa propre fonction que celle de la littérature. En étudiant les rapports que Girard et Kundera entretiennent avec la critique littéraire de la seconde moitié du XXe siècle, nous avons essayé de démontrer que leurs travaux peuvent contribuer activement aux débats actuels
This study is about René Girard's and Milan Kundera's essays on the art of the novel. According to these two authors the novel is pre-eminently a source of knowledge. At the first, we attempted to grasp the way in which Kundera and Girard perceive the novel's gnoseological function, as being distinguished, opposed or supplementing to the knowledge within social sciences and philosophy. Secondly, we tried to clarify the prospects that such an idea offers to literary criticism. The dead ends of structuralism and the emergence of the cultural studies force criticism to redefine its own function as well as the function of literature itself. By studying the relations that Girard and Kundera maintain with the literary criticism of the second half of the 20th century, we tried to show that their work can contribute actively to the current debates

Les hommes sont soumis à leur désir mimétique et tant qu'ils ne perçoivent pas cette dépendance, ils restent enchaînés aux autres, auxquels ils empruntent leurs désirs. L'anthropologie girardienne nous permet alors de comprendre comment s'entrelacent le désir mimétique, la rivalité et la violence, et de mettre en évidence les illusions concernant l'autonomie des individus. La religion et la vie politique sont directement concernées par l'escalade de la violence et sa résolution par la désignation d'un bouc émissaire. Or tant que la paix est ramenée par une violence unanime dirigée contre un bouc émissaire, il n'est pas possible d'entrevoir l'existence d'individus libres. Le mécanisme mimétique a pourtant été dévoilé, selon René Girard, par le christianisme. Non seulement la Révélation chrétienne fournit les clés pour comprendre l'origine de la violence mais elle propose aussi de faire disparaître cette violence par la conversion et l'imitation du Christ. La question de l'émergence de l'individu devient d'autant plus cruciale que René Girard décèle une amplification de la violence dans le monde moderne
People are subjected to their mimetic desire and as long as they don't experience this dependance, they keep being chained to others who they borrow their desire from. René Girard's anthropology helps us to understand how mimetic desire, rivalry and violence are merged and points out the illusions concerning individual's autonomy. Religion and Politics are directly concerned by the increase of violence and its resorption through a scapegoat held as responsible. But as long as peace is brought back by a unanimous violence directed against a scapegoat, people can't be free. And yet, according to René Girard, the mimetic mechanism has been revealed by Christianity. Christian revelation not only allows us to understand the origin of violence but also gives keys to get rid of it thanks to the conversion and the imitation of Christ. The issue of the rising of the individual gets all the more essential as René Girard notices a growing violence in the world we live in

O texto que agora aqui se apresenta perfila o modo exploratório com que o tema foi debatido. À medida que a investigação se foi desenrolando existiu, quase sempre, se não na sua totalidade, uma dúvida metodológica que sempre nos ocorreu: não visando encontrar qualquer solução, como se de uma pesquisa laboratorial se tratasse, ou de encontrar uma chave-mestra – uma eureka! – encontrámos sempre a necessidade de algo naquilo que íamos lendo, naquilo que íamos rasurando. Essa necessidade de algo “mais”, ou pelo menos algo diferente é o que agora se apresenta aqui neste texto e que visa não apenas apresentar um autor como ele é mas antes o modo como nós o recebemos, como este foi redescoberto no século XXI numa pequena cidade portuguesa. A tarefa é humilde e ilustra-se nestas páginas que se seguem.

Cette thèse propose un double dépassement de la théorie mimétique de René Girard. Le premier consiste à confronter la théorie mimétique à la psychologie de l’admiration et de l’envie, afin de montrer comment les comportements mimétiques procèdent essentiellement de ces deux émotions. Dès lors, le mimétisme ne doit plus être considéré comme une cause première du comportement humain mais comme une cause seconde, subordonnée à l’admiration ou à l’envie. Le second dépassement, plus radicale, consiste à proposer une théorie émotionnelle du comportement humain plus complète que la théorie mimétique, intégrant non seulement l’envie et l’admiration mais aussi la peur et la piété filiale. Il est alors possible de proposer une théorie émotionnelle du politique distinguant quatre types de rapports hiérarchiques : le pouvoir tyrannique fondé sur la peur, régnant par la menace et le châtiment et visant à la sécurité de tous, le pouvoir fascinant fondé sur l’envie, régnant par la séduction et la récompense et visant à la supériorité de tous, l’autorité vertueuse fondée sur l’admiration, régnant par l’exemplarité et la vertu et visant à l’excellence de tous ; et l’autorité pieuse fondée sur la piété filiale, régnant par la responsabilité et le don de soi et visant à la communion de tous
This thesis suggests a double « overtaking » of the mimetic theory developed by René Girard. The first one consists of confronting mimetic theory with the help of the psychology of admiration and envy in order to show how mimetic behaviours proceed mainly from these two emotions. Consequently, mimetism cannot be considered as a primary cause of human behaviour but as a secondary cause, subject to admiration or envy. The second one is more radical. It consists of suggesting a theory of human behaviour more comprehensive than the mimetic theory based not only on admiration and envy but also on fear and filial piety. Based on this anthropology, it is possible to develop an emotional theory of politics, distinguishing four types of hierarchical relationships : the tyrannic power based on fear, governing by threat and punishment and aiming to ensure security to all ; the fascinating power based on envy, governing by seduction and rewards and aiming to ensure priviledges to all ; the virtuous authority based on admiration, governing by example and virtue and aiming to ensure excellence to all ; the pious authority, governing by responsability and self-giving and aiming to ensure communion to all

Alors que l'œuvre romanesque de Julien Green fait souvent l'objet d'interprétations psychanalytiques, elle comporte une dimension indécidable qui s'impose comme une résistance permanente à ces approches extratextuelles. Freudien dans ses contours apparents, le désir greenien offre cependant une similitude féconde avec la configuration girardienne fondée sur le mimétisme. L'optique anthropologique et littéraire de René Girard s'annonce d'autant plus efficace pour interpréter les romans de Green qu'en reposant sur une démarche intra-textuelle, elle permet d'appréhender au plus près ce qui constitue le noyau essentiel de l'œuvre. Muni de cette grille de lecture, on a cherché à déceler l'illusion du désir et ses procédés chez les protagonistes greeniens et à mettre en évidence le lien tissé d'attirance et de répulsion entre le sujet désirant et ses modèles-obstacles. Finalement, en abordant la question de l'homosexualité chez Green sous l'éclairage de Girard, on s'aperçoit que le sexe s'avère être une construction illusoire et fragile, imposée par la société. La lecture girardienne permet ainsi de révéler, dans l'univers romanesque de Julien Green, le mécanisme profond qui sous-tend son déploiement actantiel, tout en s'affranchissant des mythologies idéologiques qui lui servent de principe d'élaboration. La pertinence de cette lecture tiendrait encore au fait que les deux auteurs se rencontrent dans leur perception sur le fonctionnement de l'écriture romanesque, démystificatrice pour le théoricien, transcendantale pour le romancier
While Julian Green's novels had been the object of psychoanalytical interpretation, his writing contains an undecided dimension which resists to these approaches called extra-textual. Although its apparent contour is Freudian, the greenian desire can be compared with the girardian configuration of mimetic desire. Girard's anthropological and literary conception can interpret effectively Green's novels meanwhile this approach intra-textual serves a way to penetrate the core of Green's fictional world. We have tried to investigate the illusion of desire through the Green's characters in light of the Girard's theory and to illustrate the ambiguous relationship between the desiring subject and his mediators. Finally, by implying Girard's theory to study the question of homosexuality, we can realize the sex is rather an illusory and fragile construction, imposed by the society. The girardian lecture, therefore, allows us to reveal the mechanism of the actantial development in Green's fictional world by crossing the ideological mythologies which serve as the composing principle. The relevance of the girardian lecture also resides in our two authors' similar ideal of the function of the fictional writing, demystificator for the theorist, transcendental for the novelist. Ne's terrible loneliness, generates the belief, translates this need to believe in thé other, this other desired, always unknown and in principle unknowable

Cette thèse est une reproblématisation dans la perception classique qu'on a de l'immigration. Loin d'avoir une raison exclusivement économique, le projet migratoire participe aussi des mécanismes subtils du désir mimétique dans l'acception que lui donne René Girard dans sa conception de la psychologie interdividuelle. Discours économiques, approches historiques et psychanalytiques permettent de renouveler la compréhension du phénomène à partir du modèle girardien, car la méthodologie structurellement pluridisciplinaire qui enveloppe le modèle de notre auteur, contribue à mettre l'accent sur la complexité qui caractérise notre objet d'étude, car l'immigration, si l'on risque une analogie, présente les mêmes caractéristiques que les "poupées russes": chaque étape franchie voit la prolifération des difficultés d'appréhension du phénomène qui s'échappe indéfiniment
This thesis is a study in different terms regarding the classical perception of immigration. Far from having exclusive economic origin, the migratory process is characterized by subtle mechanisms within the desire of movement in the acceptation that René Girard gives through his conception of the psychology between people. Economically speaking, psychoanalytical and historical approaches, allow for a new understanding of this phenomena based on Girard’s model, due to the multidisciplinary methodology which envelops the author's model, contributes to emphasize the complexity which characterizes this topic. Because this immigration, if you risk that analogy, presents a seeming endless search of this topic: there are often new forming difficulties in the study of this migratory phenomenon

Il s'agit, a partir des concepts girardiens de mimesis et de bouc emissaire, de construire un modele pertinent aussi bien du cote de la psychologie que de la sociologie. Parti de la litterature, comme girard, nous faisons travailler ses concepts dans les domaines psychologique et sociologique, mais aussi erotique, esthetique, religieux et politique. Concurremment avec le besoin sexuel central chez freud, et le besoin alimentaire et economique central chez marx, on peut, a partir de girard et diel (d'alfred adler aussi), montrer que le lien social est largement fonde sur le besoin d'estime. Ce besoin, sous sa forme saine (agape), et sous sa forme malsaine (mimesis), determine les modalites du lien social au plan sexuel comme au plan economique; il rend compte aussi de comportements comme la vanite, l'accusation injuste, la jalousie ou la violence, au niveau de la personne, comme l'esprit de caste, le totalitarisme, le manicheisme, l'integrisme, au niveau du groupe. A contrario, l'harmonie, l'amitie, l'amour, le socialisme, se trouvent definis comme un echange d'estime (un potlatch) libre et equilibre. Par un retour aux sources, nous trouvons chez son fondateur, pierre leroux, une definition du socialisme conforme a ces conditions d'equilibre : une forme de lien social base sur l'egalite, mais aussi sur la fraternite et la liberte.

Orientador: Mário Luiz Frungillo
Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Estudos da Linguagem
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Resumo: O presente trabalho tem como objetivo analisar a construção do bode expiatório de José Saramago à luz das teorias de René Girard. Para analisar a construção de Saramago, foram eleitos dois de seus romances: Ensaio sobre a cegueira (1995) e Ensaio sobre a lucidez (2004), livros que mantêm entre si uma continuação. O foco desta dissertação está voltado para a personagem mulher do médico, que divide o espaço da narrativa com outros que serão de fundamental importância para o desenvolvimento da trama. É essa personagem quem faz o papel de bode expiatório nas tramas de Saramago. A leitura dos romances de Saramago sob esse viés é possível em razão das teorias e estudos elaborados por René Girard, que procura compreender e teorizar o desejo mimético, a violência fundadora e a escolha (construção) do bode expiatório. As teorias defendidas por René Girard acerca da escolha do bode expiatório ¿ desde o seu surgimento até o seu sacrifício para o surgimento de uma nova sociedade ¿ nos ajuda a compreender os movimentos criados por José Saramago no decorrer dos dois romances e a importância que a personagem mulher do médico tem para ajudar a discutir as relações de poder e, principalmente, para revelar a crítica de José Saramago aos estados tidos como democráticos. Neste trabalho me interessa, sobretudo, observar o percurso desta personagem desde o primeiro romance em que aparece como uma espécie de heroína abnegada até o segundo romance, quando se torna vítima do sistema ¿ portanto o bode expiatório ¿, até a sua execução, e quais são as questões que estão envolvidas na construção criada por Saramago para melhor compreender a crítica aos estados democráticos em suas obras
Abstract: This work aims to analyse the construction of José Saramago¿s scapegoat with the help of René Girard¿s theoretical writings. In order to do it, two novels writen by Saramago were selected: Ensaio sobre a Cegueira (Blindness, 1995) and Ensaio sobre a Lucidez (Seeing, 2004), whose themes derive one from another. The focus is put on the main character, named simply as doctor¿s wife, who shares the narrative space with other characteres responsible for the developing of the plot. It¿s doctor¿s wife who plays the role of the scapegoat in Saramago¿s novels. The reading of both books from the point of view of Girard¿s works is possible because there are a sort of resemblances between the novels and the theory: the mimetic desire, the founding violence e the choosing of the scapegoat are all themes and subjects that belong both to Saramago¿s literature and Girard¿s thought. Finally, the work also wants to understand the trajectory of doctor¿s wife from the first novel, where she shows herself as some sort of unselfish heroine, to the second novel, when she becomes a victim of the political system ¿ therefore, the scapegoat ¿ until her execution. The goal is to reveal what is behind the construction of the character in order to be able to comprehend the critics that Saramago draws to the democratic system in his literary works
Mestrado
Teoria e Critica Literaria
Mestra em Teoria e História Literária

Ce mémoire se propose d'analyser la concordance entre l'illustration du désir humain et sa transformation en violence sociale dans les théories du désir mimétique et du mécanisme du Bouc émissaire, développées par René Girard dans ses oeuvres Mensonges Romantiques et Vérités Romanesques et Le Bouc Émissaire, et dans l'oeuvre de William Faulkner The Sound and the Fury. Ce mémoire soutient que la description du désir humain et son acheminement en crise sociale est très similaire chez les des deux auteurs. The Sound and the Fury, tout comme les oeuvres de René Girard, décrivent le désir humain comme un mécanisme triangulaire basé sur l'imitation du sujet à un model ou médiateur. Ils démontrent aussi que ces désirs peuvent créer des rivalités féroces qui peuvent induire à une violence irrépressible. Quand cette violence se multiplie par le nombre de rivaux acharnés, elle évolue en phénomène sociale : une crise que René Girard appelle Crise Mimétique et que William Faulkner reproduit dans la majorité de ces nouvelles et précisément dans The Sound and the Fury. Le mécanisme humain décrit pour l'évacuation spontanée de la violence est aussi remarquablement conforme dans l'effigie des deux auteurs. Les écrits des deux démontrent que pour évacuer leur agressivité, les sociétés la redirigent envers un ou des individus qu'ils considèrent comme inférieurs. Finalement, les deux auteurs analysent d'une manière très rapprochée les trois méthodes utilisées par l'homme pour contenir la violence. Ils présentent tout les deux les rituels comme une méthode qui a été longtemps efficace pour canaliser les tensions mais qui n'a plus sa place dans la société moderne et ce à cause du déclin religieux. Ils décrivent aussi tout les deux les méthodes compensatoires tels que les duels et les jugent inefficace et, en dernier lieu, ils considèrent tout les deux le système légal comme une méthode efficace pour l'interruption des cycles de vengeances mais pas pour l'évacuation de la violence.

Initiée par René Girard, la théorie mimétique suggère que l’égalité des conditions consacrée comme un droit exacerbe la rivalité entre semblables. Quand l’étiolement de la souveraineté étatique et la logique compétitive de l’économie marchande coïncident avec la prolifération de conflits aux enjeux planétaires, cette rivalité des égaux prend une valeur paradigmatique. L’ambition d’une anthropologie mimétique à traiter de l’époque contemporaine mieux que la philosophie politique idéaliste ou la science politique réaliste suppose une reformulation. Espérance de pallier une insuffisance d’être, le désir mimétique, ou désir d’être autre, aboutit à un résultat contradictoire, la déception de rester insuffisant, l’autre étant alors perçu à la fois comme modèle et obstacle. Pour les acteurs politiques, ce désir devient la revendication d’une égale puissance d’être, promesse faite autant par la citoyenneté, le droit des peuples à disposer d’eux-mêmes que la souveraineté des États sur leur territoire et leur population.En tant que modalité de la contention de la violence, le politique serait ainsi analysable par une « science des rapports humains », anthropologie englobante et non-disciplinaire adoptant un interdividualisme méthodologique. Sur fond de menaces inédites pour la pérennité de l’humanité, la réciprocité des rapports humains fait douter de la compatibilité entre projet égalitaire, quête d’identité et concorde sociale. Ces rapports questionnent également la prépondérance actuelle de la compétition dans les institutions, entre autres politiques, laquelle s’est imposée comme liant paradoxal du gouvernement représentatif et de l’économie de marché
Conceived by René Girard, mimetic theory suggests that the equality of conditions, established as a right, exacerbates the rivalry between similar individuals or groups. When the withering away of state sovereignty and the competitive logic of the market economy overlap with the multiplication of conflicts, this rivalry of equals becomes a relevant paradigm.Mimetic anthropology’s ambition – to address contemporary issues better than either idealistic political philosophy or realistic political science –, demands nevertheless to be revisited. The hope to overcome a lack of being, mimetic desire, or one’s desire to become someone else ends up giving way to a contradictory outcome: the disappointment of remaining oneself, the other thereby being perceived as both one’s model and one’s obstacle. For political actors, this desire turns into the claim of the equal power to be, which the promise of citizenship, the right of peoples to self-determination and the state sovereignty over its people and its territory each exemplify. As a modality of the containment of violence, politics could then be analyzed by a non-disciplinary "science of human relationships", implementing a methodological interdividualism. Against the backdrop of unprecedented threats to the survival of humanity, the reciprocity of human relationships casts doubt on the compatibility between the egalitarian project, the quest for identity, and social harmony. These relationships also question the current predominance of competition in the institutions, including political institutions, which has become the paradoxical binding agent between representative governments and the market economy

A Tese problematiza o aspecto estético, ético e pedagógico do Ilê axé Oya Gbembale em Goiânia. Propõe-se compreender o Terreiro de Candomblé como espaço de aprendizagem, onde o trágico ganha um contorno pela sua plasticidade, movimento e complexidade que povoa o Cotidiano e a vida do Povo do Santo. Assim, a Educação no Axé ganha uma dimensão política e epistemológica na medida em que as vozes do Terreiro se revelam formando uma ética e uma estética do estar – junto, edificando uma Pedagogia que se constrói na experiência vivida e partilhada com a tribo do Candomblé. Intensifica-se assim, os laços existentes entre os vários aspectos da iniciação pedagógica e do mimetismo, dando um contorno a essa tragédia que faz do Candomblé um espaço vital, alegre e festivo, instaurando aí uma viscosidade nas relações humanas fruto das relações pedagógicas, ontológicas e existenciais entre os Pais e Filhos de Santo. No entanto, a Tese versa-se em torno de um relato que testemunha a gestão de uma vida e das relações dionisíacas que estabeleci com o Povo do Santo, a partir das jornadas que percorri desde o meu processo- de- iniciaçãopedag ógica, entregando-me a essa sensibilidade diante dos signos do Candomblé. Assim, tento decifrar o espaço sagrado e mitológico dos Orixás. Proponho, em outras palavras, mostrar a voz do Terreiro, dentro de uma magia fruto da conjunção humana que é tecida no interior do Terreiro e que faz dessa religião uma verdadeira obra de arte. Estabeleço um entrelaçamento entre a Antropologia Filosófica e a Educação, penetrando nas encruzilhadas teóricas de Michel Maffesoli, Martin Heidegger, Edgar Morin, Georges Balandier, Nietzsche, Deleuze, Gilbert Durand e René Girard.
The Thesis discusses about the esthetical, ethical and pedagogical aspect of Ilê axé Oyá Gbembale in Goiânia. It purposes to comprehend the "Yard of Ritual" of Candomblé as a space for learning, where the tragic gets an outline by its plasticity, movement and complexity which fills up the Holy People everyday and life. Thus, education according to Axé gets a political and epistemological dimension while the voices of the "Yard of ritual" reveal themselves forming ethics and esthetics of being - together, building the pedagogy that is constituted through the living and sharing experience with the tribe of Candomblé. It intensifies like this, the links among the several aspects of the pedagogical initiation, of mimetiza, giving appearance to this tragedy that turns Candomblé a vital space, happy and festive, establishing then a viscosity in the human relationship as a product of the pedagogical, ontological and existential relationship between "Parents and Children from Saints". However, the Thesis studies about a description which testifies a gestion of a life and of the dionysical relationship that I established with the Holy People, it starts from the journey that I went through since my pedagogical-process-of-initiation, handing me over this sensibility before the signs of Candomblé. Thus, I try to decipher the mythological and sacred space of the Orixás. I purpose, in other words, to show the voice of the "Yard of ritual", into a magic as a result of the human conjunction that is formed inside the "Yard of ritual" and that turns this religion a true art work. I establish a mixing up among the Philosophical Anthropology and the Education, going into the theorical cross-roads of Michel Maffesoli, Martin Heidegger, Edgar Morin, Georges Balandier, Nietzsche, Deleuze, Gilbert Durand e René Girard.

Orientador: Suzi Frankl Sperber
Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Estudos da Linguagem
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Resumo: A presente dissertação tem por objetivo propor um diálogo entre duas obras dramáticas de grande significância, Ricardo III e As Troianas, no cânone de seus autores, respectivamente, William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616) e Lucius Annaeus Sêneca (4 a.C - 65 d.C). A premissa inicial é a relação tradicional entre ambos, que atribui ao tragediógrafo elisabetano uma influência textual, temática e estilística originária do filósofo e tragediógrafo latino. Para o estudo dessas relações, limitadas ao escopo de duas obras, o trabalho foi dividido em três partes. No primeiro capítulo é realizado um percurso sobre toda a historiografia da crítica da influência que Sêneca teria exercido sobre os dramaturgos que escreveram durante a segunda metade do século XVI, na Inglaterra. Observa-se, principalmente, como a visão e a metodologia de se tratar o tema da influência se altera, ao longo dos anos, chegando, por exemplo, a ser negada por alguns críticos durante certo tempo, além da observação do delineamento do próprio objeto. Toma-se o cuidado, durante todo o trabalho de não fazer opção a favor ou negar a presença de Sêneca para não incorrer em extremismos. No segundo capítulo, busca-se, com base nos resultados do primeiro capítulo, a leitura histórica dos elementos temáticos e estilísticos lidos como derivados de ou influenciados por Sêneca. Neste ponto o foco distancia-se do campo de discussão crítica do fenômeno para o campo de crítica histórico-literária e os objetos focados, agora, são exatamente aqueles que anteriormente foram levantados como ?"senequianos". No terceiro capítulo, conhecida a história da influência e tendo sido feita uma gama de opções e leituras sobre a época de Shakespeare, inicia-se a leitura das duas obras. Tal abordagem preambular se fez necessária para que houvesse um embasamento tanto da crítica da discussão da influência, como da leitura histórica da cultura que produziu Ricardo III. Foi feita a opção de seguir com a leitura de René Girard sobre os conceitos de Teoria Mimética e Crise de Diferenças, pois tocam em noções basilares do mundo Elisabetano, apresentando, portanto, uma atmosfera na qual os diálogos poderiam situar relações de aproximação e afastamento entre a dupla de obras escolhida. Observa-se uma leitura mítica, muito rica politicamente, ao trabalhar com a história/mito conhecidos por ambas as obras
Abstract: This dissertation aims to propose a dialogue between two dramatic works of great importance, Richard III and Trojan Women, both canonic for their authors, respectively, William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616) and Lucius Annaeus Seneca (4 BC - 65 AD). The initial premise is the traditional relationship between them, which presupposes that the Elizabethan tragedies have textual, thematic and stylistic influence of the Latin philosopher and tragedian. In order to study these relationships, restricted to the scope of the two referred plays, the dissertation was divided into three parts. The first chapter is about Seneca's influence on playwrights who wrote along the second half of the sixteenth century in England. It focuses mainly the vision and methodology used to study the issue of influence and changes of views over the years, reaching, for example, the fact that the influence was denied by some critics for some time. It also observes the outline of the object - the relation between plays - itself. Along these considerations, I was aware that I should not propose or deny the influence of Seneca in order not to incur in extremism. The second chapter, based on the results of the first chapter, seeks to read the historical interpretation of stylistic and thematic elements as derived from or influenced by Seneca. At this point, the analysis moves away from the critical discussion to approach the field of historical and literary criticism. The focused objects are exactly those that have previously been raised as "senequians", like the blank verse, the tyrant and the presence of ghosts. In the third chapter begins the interpretation of both tragedies. This preliminary approach was necessary in order to have a critical foundation for the discussion of influence, as that one produced by historical reading of Richard III. The mimetic theory of René Girard and the Crisis of Differences offered fundamental notions for the Elizabethan world, which presented interlocution between both tragedies, so that it was possible to examine approaches and distances between the two chosen plays. It was observed a very rich mythical and political relation among the plays using the known versions of history/myth
Mestrado
Teoria e Critica Literaria
Mestre em Teoria e História Literária

Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2012.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The stereotypical figure of the femme fatale as irresistible seductress, who inevitably brings about death, is well known. This figure is nevertheless strangely absent from Afrikaans literature. This is what makes the appearance of the character of Nicolette in André Brink’s novel, The Ambassador (1963), so remarkable. Not only is she a complex femme fatale, she also adds a new dimension to the cliché. The striking similarities between Nicolette and Kathe, the female protagonist in Henri-Pierre Roché’s novel Jules et Jim (1953), justify a comparative study between these two novels. Although both of them bring about death, it seems that the presence of these femme fatale characters has positive rather than negative consequences. Contrary to the stereotypical evil temptress, Nicolette and Kathe are more natural, spontaneous and unpredictable – apparently free from the constricting qualities of the bloodthirsty femme fatale. In this comparative study, the image of the femme fatale is investigated through the close examination of its role and function in Jules et Jim and The Ambassador. By examining the philosopher René Girard’s theories on mimetic desire, violence and sacrifice as well as Georges Bataille’s ideas on eroticism and death, the nature of the femme fatale in these two novels is analysed in order to determine to what extent the image of the femme fatale as negative archetype could be reconsidered.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die stereotipiese figuur van die femme fatale as onweerstaanbare verleidster wat noodwendig die dood teweegbring, is alombekend. Tog blyk daar 'n opvallende afwesigheid van dié gevaarlike karakter in die Afrikaanse letterkunde te wees. Dit is waarom die verskyning van die karakter van Nicolette in André P. Brink se roman, Die Ambassadeur (1963), so merkwaardig is. Nie net is Nicolette 'n komplekse femme fatale karakter nie, maar bring sy ook 'n nuwe dimensie tot die geykte stereotipe. Dit is dan veral die treffende ooreenkoms tussen Nicolette en Kathe, die vroulike protagonis in Henri-Pierre Roché se roman Jules et Jim (1953), wat 'n vergelykende studie tussen hierdie twee romans regverdig. Alhoewel albei die dood teweegbring, blyk dit dat die teenwoordigheid van hierdie femme fatale karakters eerder positiewe as negatiewe gevolge het. Anders as die stereotipiese bose verleidster, is Nicolette en Kathe meer natuurlik, spontaan en onvoorspelbaar – oënskynlik vry van die beperkende eienskappe van die bloeddorstige femme fatale. In hierdie vergelykende studie word die beeld van die femme fatale ondersoek deur die rol en funksie daarvan in Jules et Jim en Die Ambassadeur in diepte te bestudeer. Deur die filosoof René Girard se teorieë oor mimetiese begeerte, geweld en offergawe asook Georges Bataille se idees oor erotisme en die dood te ondersoek, word die aard van die femme fatale in hierdie twee romans vergelykend ontleed om sodoende te bepaal tot watter mate die beeld van die femme fatale as negatiewe argetipe heroorweeg kan word.
RESUME: La figure stéréotypée de la femme fatale comme séductrice irrésistible et malfaisante qui entraîne inévitablement la mort, est bien connue. Néanmoins, nous constatons une absence frappante de cette figure dans la littérature de langue afrikaans. Voilà ce qui rend d’autant plus remarquable et surprenante l’apparence du personnage de Nicolette dans le roman L’Ambassadeur d’André Brink (1963). Non seulement est-elle une femme fatale complexe, mais Nicolette apporte aussi une nouvelle dimension à la figure rebattue. Ce sont surtout les similarités évidentes entre Nicolette et Kathe, la protagoniste féminine du roman Jules et Jim d’Henri-Pierre Roché (1953), qui justifient une étude comparée de ces deux romans. Bien que ces deux personnages féminins provoquent la mort d’un homme, il semblerait que la présence de ces femmes fatales ait des conséquences positives plutôt que négatives. Contrairement au stéréotype de la séductrice maléfique, les personnages de Kathe et de Nicolette sont plus naturels, spontanés et imprévisibles – apparemment libres de toute étiquette restrictive attribuée à la femme fatale assoiffée de sang. Dans cette étude comparée nous nous pencherons sur l’image de la femme fatale en examinant son rôle et sa fonction dans les romans Jules et Jim d’Henri-Pierre Roché et L’Ambassadeur d’André Brink. En considérant les théories sur le désir mimétique, la violence et le sacrifice que propose René Girard ainsi que les idées de Georges Bataille sur l’érotisme, nous essayons enfin d’établir dans quelle mesure on pourrait reconsidérer la définition étriquée de la femme fatale comme archétype négatif.

This thesis explores the implications of René Girard’s mimetic theory on Genesis 1 and 2 in the Old Testament. It tests the extent to which Genesis 1 and 2 are structured sacrificially or mythically as outlined by Girard. René Girard’s theory is summarized and clarified as to how the theory can be applied to biblical texts. In addition, Girard’s theory is explained in the context of theory-making in late modernity, and critiques of Girard from biblical, anthropological, sociological, and theological perspectives are addressed. A sacrificial structure is explored in Genesis and Exodus that informs the exegesis of Genesis 1 and 2. The critical elements in Girard’s scapegoat mechanism—acquisitive desire leading to rivalry, crisis, and ultimately to an expulsion—are examined in the expulsion of the Hebrews from Egypt (Exodus 1) and the expulsions of Abraham and Isaac in Genesis (Gen 12-21). A particular pattern takes shape that structures the narratives in the Pentateuch. An exegesis of Israel’s narrative of origins in Genesis 1 and 2 follows, incorporating Girard’s theoretical insights with higher critical methods conventionally employed to the Old Testament. The thesis discovers striking parallels with Israel’s narrative of origins. They are indeed sacrificially structured, but they also interrogate that structure and describe an alternative sacrificial response. The sacrifice that Yahweh instigates dismantles the mythical structure even as it moves through the sequence. The thesis concludes with a validation of Girard’s theory and explains how Girard’s theory can be useful to the current exegetical tasks.
Biblical and Ancient studies
D. Th. (Old Testament)