Lecture contrastive du “Week End Man” de R. Wright et du “Libraire” de G. Bessette
Abstract
In this thesis the narrators in two novels Le Libraire and The Week End Man have been studied and compared. A method has been used which reconciles two trends in current critical thought, namely structuralism and intuitive interpretation. The role and function of the narrators as well as the language and its equation with reality are stressed.
The analysis is carried out on two levels: the detection of codes as defined by Barthes which structures the novel and the study of the process of communication which leads to an investigation of the “schema actantiel” and the significant role of certain inhibitors.
The first chapter outlines the approach and its application to Wright’s novel. The same method is applied to Bessett’s novel in the second chapter.
In the third and final chapter the characteristics previously isolated are drawn together and the narrators are brought face to face.