University of Connecticut OpenCommons@UConn Doctoral Dissertations University of Connecticut Graduate School 12-16-2015 The ultC Novel: Three Paradigmatic Cases—L’Immoraliste, Bonjour Tristesse, Extension du Domaine de la Lutte Joseph A. Barreira University of Connecticut, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://opencommons.uconn.edu/dissertations Recommended Citation Barreira, Joseph A., "The ultC Novel: Three Paradigmatic Cases—L’Immoraliste, Bonjour Tristesse, Extension du Domaine de la Lutte" (2015). Doctoral Dissertations. 987. https://opencommons.uconn.edu/dissertations/987 The Cult Novel: Three Paradigmatic Cases—L’Immoraliste, Bonjour Tristesse, Extension du Domaine de la Lutte Joseph A. Barreira, Ph. D. University of Connecticut, 2015 This dissertation proposes that there are specific and observable reasons why certain novels have attained the status of, and been commonly called, “cult novels” or “cult fiction”. It also proposes to delineate the development of this process through three major French novels of the twentieth century: André Gide’s L’Immoraliste (1902), Françoise Sagan’s Bonjour Tristesse (1954), and Michel Houellebecq’s Extension du Domaine de la Lutte (1994) as paradigmatic novels of the genre. Since cult fiction covers a wide range of literary “registers”, from Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mocking Bird, a realist novel seemingly aimed at “young readers”, to such emblems of “high” or “experimental literature” as James Joyce’s Ulysses, for instance, arriving at a contained, direct definition is no simple task. Nevertheless, there are some basic attributes that can help us to arrive at a working definition. Often, but not always, cult fiction originates outside the production of the literary establishment. It is a type of fiction that inspires quasi-religious fervor from its readers – the cultists –, a fervor that is not of the ephemeral or trivial type, but one that grows exponentially over a long period of time, thus an essential component of a particular work of fiction’s “cult” status. The dissertation will therefore be a combination of close textual analysis, as well as a more cultural studies approach that will examine the works in question in their respective historical and cultural contexts. The Cult Novel: Three Paradigmatic Cases—L’Immoraliste, Bonjour Tristesse, Extension du Domaine de la Lutte Joseph A. Barreira B. A., Southern Connecticut State University, 1988 M. A., Middlebury College, 1989 D. E. A., Université de Paris III, Sorbonne Nouvelle, 1995 A Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the University of Connecticut 2015 Copyright by Joseph A. Barreira 2015 ii APPROVAL PAGE Doctor of Philosophy and Doctoral Dissertation The Cult Novel: Three Paradigmatic Cases--L’Immoraliste, Bonjour Tristesse, Extension du Domaine de la Lutte Presented by Joseph A. Barreira, M.A., D.E.A. Major Advisor _____________________________________________ Roger Célestin Associate Advisor ____________________________________________ Anne Berthelot Associate Advisor ____________________________________________ Eliane Dalmolin University of Connecticut 2015 iii To all who have taught, inspired and motivated me along this journey: a special Thank You! Special thanks also to my immediate family and friends for their constant support. Thanks also to my committee members Professor Anne Berthelot and Professor Eliane Dalmolin. Most of all, thank you Professor Roger Célestin for your guidance and patience, and for not giving up on me. À Dona Maria do Rosário, a melhor professora de todos os tempos. Saudades! iv Table of Contents Chapter 1 Introduction 1 1.1-Prolegomenon/The novels 2 1.2-Origins of the genre 6 1.3-Defining characteristics of Cult Fiction 8 1.4- Bourdieu’s Dynamic Model and the Sociology of Taste 12 1.5 Reader Response Theory/Dynamics 16 1.6 The Sufferings of Young Werther: The Paradigm 18 1.7-A. Gide: L’Immmoraliste 22 1.8-Bonjour Sagan or: A feminist voice comes of age 27 1.9-Houellebecq: Extension of the domain of perpetual provocation 31 Chapter 2 L’Immoraliste 2.1-André Gide: The first coming out of the closet 34 2.2-The state of homosexuality in France in Gide’s time 39 2.3-The Oscar Wilde affair 43 2.4-Gide’s acquaintance with Oscar Wilde 44 2.5-Karl Heinrich Ulrichs: the first gay theorist/activist 47 2.6-The Harden-Eulenburg Affair 49 2.7-L’Immoraliste 52 2.8-The plot line in L’Immoraliste 57 2.9-Symbiotic relation with the zeitgeist 66 2.10-Gide and Michel’s psychological principle 73 v Chapter 3 Bonjour Tristesse 3.1-Bonjour Sagan or: A feminist voice comes of age 78 3.2-Female novels of adolescence 84 3.3-The young Françoise Sagan: A charming little monster 89 3.4-A cheeky and avant-garde little novel 95 3.5-Sagan and Bonjour Tristesse: At the crossroads of History for French Youth 98 3.6-The auhor’s sexuality 115 Chapter 4 Extension du Domaine de la Lutte 4.1-Extension of the domain of perpetual provocation 120 4.2-Houellebecq’s influences 127 4.3-Female psychoanalysis as anathema to society 129 4.4-The Zeitgeist: Fin de siècle/millénaire crisis 138 4.5-Our Heroes, the protagonists 145 4.6-Dystopia 152 4.7-Sexual and economic dialectics 155 Chapter 5 Conclusion 5.1-Conclusion 162 5.4-Epilogue/Concluding remarks 169 Selected Bibliography/Works Cited 172 1 The Cult Novel: Three Paradigmatic Cases -- L’Immoraliste, Bonjour Tristesse, Extension du Domaine de la Lutte Introduction 2 "What really knocks me out is a book that, when you're all done reading it, you wish the author that wrote it was a terrific friend of yours and you could call him up on the phone whenever you felt like it. That doesn't happen much, though." (Holden Caulfield in The Catcher in the Rye) Chapter 1-Introduction Chapter 1.1 Prolegomenon When Ian Hamilton wrote an unauthorized biography of J. D. Salinger, author of The Catcher in the Rye, one of the enduring classics of 20th century American fiction, he declared that Salinger’s novel spoke not only to him but for him. When a book has this kind of effect on a sizable number of readers we can say it deserves to be called a “cult book” (Whissen, ix), hence the quotation above from Holden Caulfield, the protagonist of Salinger’s cult classic. Cult novels have this ability to speak not only to us but also for us. With this basic tenet in mind, among others, which will be developed below, I have undertaken the task of showing why and how some works of fiction are “vested” with the status of “cult”. This dissertation thus proposes that there are specific and observable reasons why certain novels attain the status of “cult novels” or “cult fiction”. It also proposes to delineate the development of this process through three French novels of the twentieth century. As such, the dissertation will be a combination of close 3 textual analysis and a cultural studies approach that will examine the works in question in their respective historical and cultural contexts. Since cult fiction covers a wide range of literary registers, from Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mocking Bird, a realist novel seemingly aimed at “young readers” for instance, to such emblems of “high” or “experimental” literature as James Joyce’s Ulysses, arriving at a contained, direct definition is no simple task. Nevertheless, there are some basic attributes that can help us arrive at a working definition. Often, but not always, cult fiction originates outside the production of the literary establishment. It is a type of fiction that inspires quasi-religious fervor from its readers – the cultists –, a fervor that is not of the ephemeral or trivial type, but one that grows exponentially over a long period of time, thus an essential component of a particular work of fiction’s “cult” status. Thematically speaking, suffering, or the vicissitudes of going through major ordeals is a major element. In the case of cult novels, the suffering is most often not perpetrated by outside or external sources, but rather by the protagonists, who bring this suffering upon themselves as a result of mental or emotional anguish, almost as if it were a self- imposed “martyrdom.” The connection to another thematic element is logical: the protagonists of cult fiction are usually “anti-heroes”, solitary, introspective, anti- conformist individualists alienated from the world around them but who, paradoxically, hold out or even embody some hope for a better future and the proverbial “better world”. In the area of readership, the audience, at least at the beginning of the work’s itinerary toward “cult” status, is composed of young readers, ranging between late adolescence and early adulthood (from high school 4 through the college years and a bit further, one might say) who find their own aspirations and needs embodied and even realized in the work in question. It is important to underline here that the author’s intentionality is not instrumental in “making” cult novels. As Thomas Whissen proposes, the process of making cult novels or cult authors depends entirely on factors no author can control (xi). The case of the American poet/essayist/novelist Weldon Kees, whose abandoned car was found near the Golden Gate Bridge in 1955, is a case in point. Kees was never found, dead or alive. No one knows whether he jumped off the bridge, went to Mexico-which he had hinted at to friends- or simply went under the radar elsewhere. Yet, even though attempts have been made to “revive or perhaps create his reputation”, these attempts have had little or no success. (“The Disappearing Poet”. The New Yorker; July 4th, 2005). Here is what The Rough Guide to Cult Fiction tells us about Weldon Kees, Dylan Thomas, and more generally about the process of books becoming cult novels: If the true cult book should be out of print for ten years, the truly cult author ought to have written one seminal novel, behaved abominably in public and then died tragically young or, better still, vanished.