test
Search publications, data, projects and authors

Thesis

French

ID: <

10670/1.6f9j1n

>

Where these data come from
Forking Paths : randomness, combinatory and divination in the experimental novel of the 1960's : (I. Calvino, J. Cortázar, Ph. K. Dick, M. Saporta)

Abstract

Marc Saporta's Composition no 1, Julio Cortázar's Hopscotch, Italo Calvino's Castle of Crossed Destinies, and Philip K. Dick's Man in the High Castle. Written between 1962 and 1973, these four novels have as common denominator their use of oracular traditions. In the first three literary works, the novel form is broken by becoming one with tarot cards. In the last novel mentioned, the Chinese oracle – the I Ching – is the source of the writing process. In both political and literary fields, the 1960's consist in a radical questioning of authority. Prior to Barthes' prophecy of the Death of the Author, artists make use of chance and randomness in order to liberate creation from the arbitrary power of the author. This thesis studies the way the four aforementioned writers try to reconsider the dynamics between reader and writer by using the Jungian theories (synchronicity, archetypes, etc.). By deconstructing the linearity of the novel form, the four books are representative of an experimental literature which shows disregard to genre conventions. Between ludic poetic and mysticism, the novels are made hypertextual by oracular randomness. Focusing on the interpreting reader, the novels investigate the modalities of literary interaction ; this way, they are key materials in understanding the transmedia relations between literature and digital literacy.

Your Feedback

Please give us your feedback and help us make GoTriple better.
Fill in our satisfaction questionnaire and tell us what you like about GoTriple!