Flaubert and the Gift of Speech: Dialogue and Discourse in Four "Modern" Novels

by Stirling Haig

Overview

This is the first book-length study of Flaubert's use of dialogue, an important but neglected component of his fictional texts. Professor Haig's starting point is Sartre's observation that 'Flaubert does not believe that we speak: we are spoken'. Dialogue in Flaubert does not attempt to represent an individual style but to circumscribe a larger phenomenon of language. Speech defines man both in the sense that it describes him as a set of human characteristics, and inscribes him within a system of social values. The author explores the development of Flaubert's use of dialogue in Madame Bovary, L'Education Sentimentale (both versions), and Bouvard et Pécuchet.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521111522
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	05/07/2009
Series:	Cambridge Studies in French , #15
Pages:	212
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.40(h) x 0.70(d)

Table of Contents

Preface; 1. Background; 2. Learning dialogue; 3. Madame Bovary; 4. L'Education sentimentale; 5. Bouvard et Pecuchet and the End of Dialogue; Conclusion; Appendix: Dialogue in Flaubert's Correspondence; Notes; Select bibliography; Index.