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University Microfilms 300 North Zeeb Road Ann Arbor, M ichigan 4S106 A Xerox Education Company 72-27,054 LONG, Gale Harold, 1932- . THE NOVELS OF ROBERT PINGET: THE IMPOSSIBLE QUEST FOR TRUTH AND MEANING OF SELF, 1951-1969. [Portions of Text in French]. The Ohio State University, Ph.D., 1972 Language and Literature, modern University Microfilms, A XEROX Company, Ann Arbor, Michigan THIS DISSERTATION HAS BEEN MICROFILMED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED. THE NOVELS OF ROBERT FINGET THE IMPOSSIBLE QUEST FOR TRUTH AND MEANING OF SELF 1951-1969 DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Gale Harold Long, B.A., M.A. The Ohio State University 1972 Approved by Adviser Department of Romance Languages and Literatures PLEASE NOTE: Some pages may have indistinct print. Filmed as received. University Microfilms, A Xerox Education Company ACKNOWLEDGMENTS In its inception and preparation, this study owes much to the suggestions, assistance, and advice of my adviser, Professor Pierre Astier, and of my wife. For their encouragement and moral support, my thanks also to William and Virginia Lewton, Marlene Astier, Kaaren Courtney, and James Brooks. VITA March 14, 1932 . Born--Dresden, Kansas 1962 ............... B.A., University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah 1962-1969 ......... Graduate Assistant, Department of Romance Languages and Literatures, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 1965 ............... Visiting Lecturer, Denison University, Granville, Ohio 1965 ............... M.A., The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 1969-1972 ......... Instructor, Department of Romance Languages, DePauw University, Greencastle, Indiana TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS i i VITA ......................................... iii INTRODUCTION ................................ 1 PART I. THE EARLY NOVELS Chapter I. THE BEGINNING OF A LONG JOURNEY . 12 Entre Fantoine et Agapa II. BUILDING BLOCKS .................... 22 Mahu ou le matSriau III. INVENTION BRINGS VALIDITY TO LIVING 41 Le Reaard et la boussole IV. A NEW LANGUAGE, A NEW REALITY . 56 Graal Flibuste V. ONLY A TEMPORARY HAVEN.............. 74 Baga VI. THEMES AND CONSTANTS IN THE EARLY NOVELS ...................... 91 Fantasy Search for Truth and Yearning for Posterity Humor iv PART II. THE TRANSITIONAL NOVELS VII. THE TRIVIA OF AN UNCERTAIN EXISTENCE 127 Le Fiston VIII. NO MORE T I M E ........................ 144 Clope au dossier IX. THEMES AND CONSTANTS IN THE TRANSITIONAL NOVELS................. 162 An Antithesis: Self-destruction Self-justification and the Disappearance of Fantasy Time The Solitary Character Humor PART III. THE INTERROGATORY NOVELS X. THE SUM OF THE MATERIAL.............. 187 L*Inquisitoire XI. THE MYRIAD PERSONALITY.............. 215 Autour de Mortin XII. IN SEARCH OF S O M E O N E ................ 233 Quelqu'un XIII. THEMES AND CONSTANTS IN THE INTERROGATORY NOVELS ............... 253 Illusive and Timeless Reality Individual vs. Social Truth The Interrogative Method Tone v PART IV. THE NEW DIRECTION NOVELS XIV. A PRAYER FOR DELIVERANCE......... 281 Le Libera XV. A DANCE OF DEATH .................. 29 S Passacaille XVI. THEMES AND CONSTANTS IN THE NEW DIRECTION NOVELS ............. 307 The Specter of Truth The Voice of Language and Its Tone The Specter of Death CONCLUSION ................................... 321 SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY ...................... 336 vi INTRODUCTION When this subject matter, the novels of Robert Pinget, was first contemplated as a topic for advanced study and the research was underway, we were encouraged by a per­ sonal response received from the author. Je vous remercie de votre lettre et de l'intdret que vous portez A mes livres. ... J'espdre vivement que vous aurez du succds avec votre th&se et me permets de vous demander de m'en envoyer une copie lorsqu'elle sera imprimde.^ This response coupled with his sentiments expressed in an earlier interview regarding his reading public have given us the courage to continue. Dans ma vie, la solitude a un grand role, mais je ne la vis pas comme on croit. La solitude est la premidre nlcessit6 de l'6criture. ... Mais en re­ vanche, l'adhSsion du public, 1'encouragement d'un lecteur, c'est ce qui est fantastique... La remarque d'un lecteur, c'est fantastique.2 This study will hopefully stand as a living testament of such reciprocal encouragement. Some years have passed, and we hope that M. Pinget's interest has not waned in the meantime. Biographical material concerning the author is ^■Letter from Robert Pinget, April 21, 1965. 2 Pierre Fisson, "Pierre Fisson mdne 1'enquSte sur le roman," Le Figaro Litt6raire, 29 septembre 1962, p. 3. 1 deliberately sketchy as he deems such information useless in connection with a literary analysis of a writer's work. However, he graciously provided the following information in the 1965 letter. Quant aux renseignements biographiques que vous de- mandez, je considdre qu'ils sont inutiles dans une analyse litteraire. Les voici en bref. N6 en 1919, 6tudes de droit, licence, brevet d'avocat, Beaux-Arts de Paris (j'Stais dgalement peintre), voyages en Europe, en Afrique du Nord, en Asie mineure, aux USA (inviti par la Ford Foundation) et au Mexique.3 Born in Geneva, it was there that he took up his law studies; after receiving his brevet d'avocat, he left his birthplace in 1946 and settled in Paris in order to attend L'Ecole des Beaux-Arts where he pursued his interest in painting. He remained at the school for a period of four years during which time his paintings followed the prin­ ciples of the school, arriving at a personal abstract method at the time of his first exhibition in 1950. Benefiting from his art studies, he spent a year in England as a pro­ fessor of art and French. This love for painting was equaled during his childhood and adolescence by a profound interest in poetry. In later years some of his poetry was set to music and performed by Germaine Taillefer. Unable to express himself satisfactorily in the areas of painting or poetry alone, he turned to the medium of the novel. His first attempt at writing fiction, Entre Fantoine et Agapa, appeared in 1951. The work does not profess to be a novel 3Letter from Pinget. but is a collection of short tales. It does suggest, how­ ever, the world which the author is to explore and includes some structural and thematic forms on which the writer will continue to build in his succeeding works. Sa voix was found in 1952 with the writing of his first novel, Mahu ou le matdriau: MEt puis, un jour, ... j'ai dcrit Mahu. Ce fut le coup de foudre. ...j'ai su instantandment que c'dtait juste. ... J'avais trouvd ma voix."^ Although a playwright also, his output of plays has not been as great as that of his novels and some of these theatrical works are adaptations from the novels: Lettre morte (1959) is a reworking of some of the major points of the novel, Le Fiston; Clope au dossier reflects Ici ou ailleurs (1961) and La Manivelle (1960) represents a portion of the novel's preparatory work; Architruc (1961) utilizes the characters of Baga, and L'Hypothdse (1961) is related to the material of Autour de Mortin. His work in the theater has also brought him into close contact with Samuel Beckett in the field of collaboration. In 1957, he translated Beckett's radio play, All That Fall, into French (Tous ceux qui tombent) ; in 1960, he and Beckett translated the latter's play, Embers, into French (Cendres). Also in 1960, Beckett reciprocated by translating Pinget's play, La Manivelle, into English (The Old Tune). ^Madeleine Chapsal, "Qa crSve, ga crdve," L*Express, 6-12 ddcembre 1965, p. 120. 4 In spite of the prolific literary endeavors of Pin­ get, to date there has been no book written devoted to his works exclusively, although, from time to time, he is in­ cluded in critical discussions of the modern literary direc­ tions in France. The bulk of the critical research as re­ gards his works lies in book reviews and some short articles or essays, the greater part of which has been undertaken in France.