Overview

Translated by Paul Perron Maupassant's short story, “Two Friends”, is examined in order to test methodological tools and to hone them for their application in the analysis of narrative discourse, starting from the oral tale (Propp) and ending with the written tale instituted as literary genre. Complex procedures of textual production are identified: among which entire sequences as well as the “evenemential” level of narrative fade away in favor of its cognitive dimension. This semiotic investigation is accompanied by a challenge to certain conventions of literary criticism: dialogue, the locus of Realist stereotypes, appears laden with paradoxical truths; the description of nature, inherited from the Romantics, bristles with narrative intent, and entire sections of a valorized figurative universe unfold before us. Thematic readings are linked up with semantic analysis: the figure of Water exerts its profound fascination. A Christian symbolics is uncovered which traverses the text and invites us to read it as a new Gospel Parable. New readings complement older ones and remain as so many suspended possibilities. The tale appears somewhat as a sonnet, that is to say as a “fixed-form” genre, where the closure of the text would be a necessary condition for transcending it.

Full Product Details

Author:   Algirdas Julien Greimas ,  Paul Perron
Publisher:   John Benjamins Publishing Co
Imprint:   John Benjamins Publishing Co
Volume:   1
Weight:   0.525kg
ISBN:  

9789027219442

ISBN 10:   9027219443
Pages:   258
Publication Date:   01 January 1988
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In Print  
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Table of Contents

1. Introduction; 2. Foreword; 3. Two Friends (unabridged text); 4. Sequence I: Paris; 5. I. Textual organization; 6. 1. Spatial and Temporal Disjunctions; 7. 2. Actorial Disjunction; 8. II. The First Sentence; 9. 1. Thematic Roles; 10. 2. Aspectual Structures; 11. 3. A Logic of Approximations; 12. III. The Second Sentence; 13. 1. The Discoursive Isotopy; 14. 2. Spatial Representation; 15. 3. Semantic Explicitation; 16. 4. Axiological Investments; 17. IV. The Third Sentence; 18. 1. The Spatial Figure of Paris; 19. 2. Toward the Abolition of Meaning; 20. V. Final Remarks; 21. Sequence II: Friendship; 22. I. The Sequence and its Context; 23. 1. Intercalation; 24. 2. The Linearity of Discourse; 25. II. The Internal Organization of the Sequence; 26. 1. Paradigmatic Organization; 27. 2. Syntagmatic Organization; 28. III. Euphoric Doing; 29. 1. The Discoursive Program; 30. 2. The Valorization of the Program; 31. 3. The Installation of the Dual Actant; 32. IV. The Figurative Universe of Values; 33. 1. The Identification of Values; 34. 2. The Transfigurations of the Sun; 35. 3. Aquatic Mist; 36. 4. Celestial Mist; 37. 5. Solar Blood; 38. 6. The Seeming of the Sky; 39. 7. The Semiotic Square; 40. V. Actantial Distribution; 41. Sequence III: The Promenade; 42. I. The Status and the Organization of the Sequence; 43. 1. The Spatio-temporal Frame; 44. 2. The Promenade; 45. 3. Walking and Halting; 46. II. The Advent of the Event; 47. 1. Temporalization and Aspectualization; 48. 2. The Focalization of the Actor-Subject; 49. 3. Triggering of Narration; 50. III. Reconstituting the Actant; 51. 1. Recognition; 52. 2. The Reunion; 53. 3. The Virtualization and the Actualization of Contents; 54. 4. The Institution of Illusion; 55. IV. The Competence of the Subject; 56. 1. The Actualization of Wanting-to-do; 57. 2. An Illusory Being-able-to-do; 58. 3. The Tricksters; 59. 4. The Two Figures of the Trickster; 60. 5. The Non-Sender; 61. 6. The Act; 62. Sequence IV: The Quest; 63. I. Provisional Segmentation; 64. II. Familiar Space; 65. 1. The Pass; 66. 2. The Spatial Organization of the Narrative; 67. III. Topical Space; 68. 1. New Segmentation; 69. 2. The Interpretive Halt; 70. 3. Persuasive Displacement; 71. Sequence V: Peace; 72. I. Problems of Segmentation; 73. II. The Construction of Cognitive Space; 74. 1. The Quest for Solitude; 75. 2. The Absence of the Anti-subject; 76. III. The Performance of the Hero; 77. 1. Textual and Narrative Analysis; 78. 2. Semantic Analysis; 79. Sequence VI: War; 80. I. Textual Organization; 81. II. Mount Valerian; 82. 1. Sound and Silence; 83. 2. The Anthropomorphic Figure; 84. 3. The Sociolectal Universe and the Ideolectal Universe; 85. 4. Deadly Doing; 86. III. Death and Liberty; 87. 1. Segmentation; 88. 2. That's even worse than animals ; 89. 3. Nature and Culture; 90. 4. The Social Proto-sender; 91. 5. One would never be free ; 92. 6. The Narrative Pivot; 93. 7. The Presence of Death; 94. Sequence VII: The Capture; 95. I. Textual Organization; 96. 1. The Frame of the Sequence; 97. 2. Internal Articulation; 98. II. The Pragmatic Dimension; 99. 1. The Anti-subject's Narrative Program; 100. 2. Objects of Value: O2; 101. 3. Objects of Value: O1; 102. 4. The Subject of Doing and the Subject of Being; 103. 5. The Structure of the Anti-subject; 104. III. The Cognitive Dimension; 105. 1. Point of View ; 106. 2. Dual Recognition; 107. 3. Speaking; 108. Sequence VIII: Reinterpretation; 109. I. Textual Organization; 110. 1. The Frame of the Sequence; 111. 2. Internal Articulation; 112. II. The Establishment of Discourse; 113. 1. Rhetorical Procedures; 114. 2. Setting up the Enunciation; 115. III. Second Degree Discourse; 116. 1. A Counter-reading; 117. 2. The Reading of S1's NP; 118. 3. Interpretation and the Canon; 119. 4. Return to Interpretation; 120. 5. Thematic Roles and Trajectories; 121. 6. The Revelation of the Secret; 122. 7. The Transfer of Responsibilities; 123. 8. The Ideology of Domination; 124. 9. The Informative Utterance; 125. Sequence IX: The Refusal; 126. I. Textual Organization; 127. 1. The Frame of the Sequence; 128. 2. Internal Articulation; 129. II. The Anti-subject's Narrative Program; 130. 1. Narrative Competence; 131. 2. Narrative Performance; 132. III. The Subject's Narrative Program; 133. 1. Interpretation of the Values Offered; 134. 2. The Interpretation of the Requested Counter-value; 135. 3. The Narrative Program of Liberation; 136. Sequence X: Death; 137. I. Textual Organization; 138. 1. The Frame of the Sequence; 139. 2. Internal Articulation; 140. II. The Economy of the Sequence; 141. 1. The Patriotic Isotopy; 142. 2. The Performance; 143. III. The Last Attempt; 144. 1. The Warning; 145. 2. The Unsuccessful Separation; 146. IV. Farewell; 147. 1. The Paradigmatic Network; 148. 2. The Comparison of Values; 149. 3. The Reconstitution of the Dual Actant; 150. V. Martyrdom; 151. 1. The Last Confrontation; 152. 2. The Vacuity of the Sky; 153. 3. The Christian Parable; 154. Sequence XI: The Funeral; 155. I. Textual Organization; 156. 1. The Frame of the Sequence; 157. 2. Internal Articulation; 158. II. The Transfiguration; 159. 1. The Procedure of Overshadowing; 160. 2. The Immersion; 161. III. Recognition; 162. 1. The Manifestations of Water; 163. 2. A little blood floated ; 164. IV. The Funeral Oration; 165. 1. The Axiology of the Anti-subject; 166. 2. The Ideology of Power; 167. 3. The Redistribution of Knowledge; 168. Sequence XII: The Closure of The Narrative; 169. I. Textual Organization; 170. 1. The Frame of the Sequence; 171. 2. Internal Articulation; 172. II. The Consumption of the Fish; 173. 1. A Delicious Experience; 174. 2. Cognitive Doing; 175. 3. Pragmatic Doing; 176. 4. The Resumption of the Christian Isotopy; 177. III. The Consummation of the Event; 178. Final Remarks; 179. Index Rerum

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