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JORGE SEMPRUN, LE ROMAN DE L’HISTOIRE
by
ANTOINE BARGEL
A DISSERTATION
Presented to the Department of Romance Languages and Literatures
and the Graduate School of the University of Oregon
in partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree of
Doctor of Philosophy in Romance Languages
within a co-direction agreement with
Université Lumière-Lyon 2 (France)
September 2010
“Jorge Semprun, le roman de l’histoire,” a dissertation prepared by Antoine Bargel in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy in Romance Languages degree in the Department of Romance Languages and Literatures. This dissertation has been approved and accepted by:
____________________________________________________________
Massimo Lollini, Chair of the Examining Committee
________________________________________
Date
Committee in Charge:
Jean-Pierre MARTIN, Co-chair
Massimo LOLLINI, Co-chair
George SHERIDAN
Gina HERRMANN
Dominique CARLAT
Françoise GEOFFROY-DURRANT
Accepted by:
____________________________________________________________
Dean of the Graduate School
© 2010 Antoine Bargel
An Abstract of the Dissertation of
| Antoine Bargel | for the degree of | Doctor of Philosophy in Romance Languages | ||
| in the Department of Romance Languages and Literatures | to be taken | September 2010 | ||
Title: JORGE SEMPRUN, LE ROMAN DE L’HISTOIRE / JORGE SEMPRUN, THE NOVEL OF HISTORY
Approved: _______________________________________________
Massimo Lollini
Jorge Semprun, survivor of Buchenwald, intends to « make testimony a space of creation ». The formal inventiveness of the novel allows him to express the truth of his experience, by creating a reflexive textual space in which the author is presented in the act of writing, and the reader is called to realize his/her active part in the constitution of narrative meanings. Author and reader thus collaborate on establishing the ethical relationship of testimony. My dissertation examines the formal characteristics of this novel of history, to describe its relationship to political discourse in particular, and to highlight the aesthetic autonomy of the novel, which defines the specificity of literature’s approach of history. Semprun develops this aesthetics through multiple narrative innovations and a conception of narration as performance, where Saying is distinct from the Said (Levinas) : this performative dimension of the narration is described in this work through a phenomenological notion of reading, centered on the interpretative and imaginary activities brought into play by the reading subject. The contrast between narrative aesthetics and ideological discourse does not only define Semprun’s writing strategies, but also the function attributed to the reader in these texts. Becoming aware of the author’s motivations and rhetorical processes, which explicitly multiply interpretative trajectories within the text, the reader realizes that the stakes of testimony reside in the act of reading, a reading that is engaged, participative, and perpetually renewed.
NAME OF AUTHOR: Antoine Bargel
PLACE OF BIRTH: Barcelona (Spain)
DATE OF BIRTH: March 12, 1983
GRADUATE AND UNDERGRADUATE SCHOOLS ATTENDED:
University of Oregon
Université Lumière-Lyon 2 (France)
Université Paris X-Nanterre (France)
DEGREES AWARDED:
Doctor of Philosophy in Romance Languages and Literatures, 2010, University of Oregon
Master (M.A.) in French Language and Literature, 2006, Université Lumière-Lyon 2, (France)
Licence (B.A.) in Modern Literatures, 2004, Université Paris X-Nanterre (France)
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE:
Graduate Teaching Fellow in French, University of Oregon, 2006-2010.
GRANTS, AWARDS AND HONORS:
Graduate Dissertation Fellowship: Oregon Humanities Center, 2009-2010
Beall Graduate Dissertation Scholarship: Department of Romance Languages, University of Oregon, 2009-2010
Beall Graduate Special Merit Scholarship: Department of Romance Languages, University of Oregon, 2008-2009
Graduate School Research Award: University of Oregon, 2007-2008
Explora’Doc Bourse d’incitation à la mobilité/cotutelle: Région Rhône-Alpes (France), 2007-2008
Aide à la mobilité: Ministère de l’Éducation Nationale et de la Recherche (France), 2007-2008
PUBLICATIONS:
Bargel, Antoine, “Semprun and Lukács: For a Marxist Reading of Le grand voyage”, Jorge Semprún: The Task of the Witness, The Duty of the Writer, Edité par Ofelia Ferrán et Gina Herrmann, forthcoming.
I wish to express sincere appreciation to Professors Lollini and Martin for co-directing this dissertation, and to Professor Emerita Calin for her constant guidance throughout the writing process. My gratitude goes to the members of the jury, Professors Herrmann, Sheridan, Mouchard, and Carlat.
In addition, special thanks are due to Professor Fabienne Moore whose unwavering dedication made this international co-direction possible. I also thank everyone in the Romance Languages Department who was welcoming, helpful, and adaptive to this innovative situation.
The writing of this dissertation was supported in part by an Oregon Humanities Center Graduate Dissertation Fellowship, and by a Beall Graduate Dissertation Fellowship. The research was supported by scholarships from the Graduate School and the Romance Languages Department of the University of Oregon, la région Rhône-Alpes et le Ministère de l’Education Nationale et de la Recherche. Gracias a Victoria Ramos Bello del Archivo Historico del PCE en Madrid y al Profesor Manuel Aznar Soler de la Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona para su inestimable ayuda.
Warm thanks to Steve and Françoise Durrant for their friendship and wisdom, to my parents for letting me go so far away, to George Pernsteiner for providing office space, and to Alexis.
Les titres sont suivis des éditions de référence lorsqu’elles diffèrent de l’édition originale indiquée en bibliographie.
Œuvres de Semprun
A : L’Algarabie, Folio.
AFS : Autobiographie de Federico Sánchez, Points Seuil.
AVC : Adieu, vive clarté..., Folio.
E : L’évanouissement.
EV : L’écriture ou la vie, Folio.
GV : Le grand voyage, Folio.
QBD : Quel beau dimanche, Cahiers Rouges.
Œuvres de Gide
FM : Les Faux-Monnayeurs.
JFM : Journal des Faux-Monnayeurs.