Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects
Date of Degree
9-2017
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Ph.D.
Program
Comparative Literature
Advisor
Giancarlo Lombardi
Committee Members
André Aciman
Bettina Lerner
Subject Categories
Comparative Literature | French and Francophone Literature | Latin American Languages and Societies | Literature in English, North America | Modern Literature | Other Arts and Humanities
Keywords
Marcel Proust, Marvel Moreno, Alison Bechdel, Comics
Abstract
Marcel Proust’s influence on twentieth century literature is broad and has been well documented. This dissertation attempts a comparative reading of À la recherche du temps perdu that places it in contrast with Colombian writer Marvel Moreno’s 1987 novel, En diciembre llegaban las brisas, and Alison Bechdel’s 2006 comic memoir, Fun Home. Starting from a Deleuzian reading of the Recherche, this dissertation proposes the notion of the “proustian truth seeker”, a thematic and stylistic phenomenon which can be traced in all three writers. The characteristics of the truth seeker can be used to understand the ways in which the narrators of these novels are driven by a particular sort of desire that determines the novel’s structure, style, and thematic concerns. Ultimately, the concept of the proustian truth seekers offers a way to understand the complex connection between these three writers as well as a powerful tool to study novels that blur the line between fiction and autobiographical non-fiction.
Recommended Citation
Parga Linares, Santiago, "Desire, Curiosity, and the Search for Truth in Proust, Moreno, and Bechdel" (2017). CUNY Academic Works.
https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/2174
Included in
Comparative Literature Commons, French and Francophone Literature Commons, Latin American Languages and Societies Commons, Literature in English, North America Commons, Modern Literature Commons, Other Arts and Humanities Commons