Modern Language & Literary Monograph
1 total work
This study in English of the contemporary French novelist Michel Tournier (b.1924) aims to show that his fiction cannot be understood simply as a literary transposition of philosophical ideas and that, despite his opposition to the New Novel, he shares its assumptions about the subversive role of literature. The work draws on all Tournier's fictional, critical and autobiographical works, particularly his novels, "Vendredi ou les Limbes du Pacifique", "Le Roi des Aulnes" and "Les Meteores". The theme of art, Tournier's theory of reading and his attitude towards language are discussed, while a concluding section shows how Tournier's treatment of the conflict between nomad and sedentary is related to his preoccupation with the search for the reconciliation of oppo sites.