"not in the guidebook" : departs et derives. itineraires fitzgeraldiens
Institution:
Paris 3Disciplines:
Directors:
Abstract EN:
The purpose of this study is to examine in detail all the features of fitzgeraldian space. Francis scott fitzgerald's entire works analyse a major theme in american literature : man's alienation from his environment. Therefore, the search for his own identity is in keeping with the quest for a place to call home. This process takes him to the four corners of the american continent and to europe and incites him to try and grasp the true meaning of his surroundings. Unable to settle down somewhere, man is in perpetual quest but the wanderings of his soul forbid the rebirth of his being. Houses are devoid of protective values and look like prisons. Willing to run away from the family circle, the hero hopes to lay the foundations of his own identity by seeking new adventures. But his attempt to become integrated in the american city turns out to be a delusion. The urban miracle becomes a mirage ; the american south, the land of romantic elation, is nothing more than a lost paradise ; finally, europe, the artistic centre of american expatriates, loses its authenticity and becomes another version of america. In scott fitzgerald's fiction, departures become drifts. This study is, therefore, an invitation to explore the symbolic landscapes of his works and should allow the reader to better perceive the different components of francis scott fitzgerald's imaginary world.
Abstract FR:
Cette etude se propose d'examiner en detail toutes les composantes de l'espace fitzgeraldien. Toute l'oeuvre de francis scott fitzgerald aborde un theme majeur de la litterature americaine : l'inadaptation de l'homme a son environnement. La quete de son identite, par consequent, s'inscrit dans la recherche d'un centre vital. Cette demarche mene l'individu aux quatre coins du continent american ainsi qu'en europe et l'incite a tenter de saisir le sens profond de son espace immediat. Incapable de jeter l'ancre quelque part, l'homme est en quete perpetuelle mais l'errance de son ame ne permet pas la renaissance de son etre. Les maisons n'offrent pas de valeurs protectrices et s'apparentent a des prisons. Fuyant le giron maternel, le heros espere trouver dans l'aventure les fondements d'une identite nouvelle. Mais la tentative d'integration au sein de la ville americaine se revele etre un leurre. Le miracle urbain se transforme en mirage; le sud, terre de l'exaltation romantique, n'est plus qu'un paradis perdu : l'europe, enfin, pole artistique des expatries americains, perd son authenticite et devient une deuxieme amerique. Dans la fiction fitzgeraldienne, les departs se transforment en derives. Cette etude est donc une invitation au voyage a travers la geographie symbolique de l'oeuvre et devrait permettre au lecteur de mieux apprecier les differents poles de l'univers imaginaire de francis scott fitzgerald.