چکیده:
Tout concept narratif exige un cadrage spatio-temporel particulier lui permettant de se développer sur le plan textuel. A la différence du roman traditionnel où le contexte spatial se trouve marginalisé, le roman moderne met en avant les aspects dynamiques de l’espace et représente son incessant reconstruction sous le regard du sujet. Fondé sur une saisie polyphonique du monde, Passage de Milan (1954), l’œuvre inaugurale de Michel Butor, se construit autour d’une image cauchemardesque de la ville, focalisant l’intérêt du lecteur sur l’écart croissant entre l’homme et la société moderne. L’univers romanesque de Butor qui s’avère être un microcosme de Paris projette, dans une certaine mesure, un monde objectal où le système spatio-temporel se propose comme une entité dérivée du réel, dont l’ensemble des éléments contribue à la construction du sens dans le récit. À cela s’ajoute la dimension subjectale de l’espace du fait qu’il est déployé sous la perception du narrateur ou dans la conscience des personnages. Effectivement, une lecture approfondie de la conceptualisation de l’espace dans Passage de Milan, nous permettra d’accéder à l’image mentale que se crée l’auteur de la modernité urbaine. Nous allons analyser, au départ, les extraits qui se focalisent sur les aspects topographiques de l’espace en vue de montrer ensuite comment la conceptualisation du cadre spatio-temporel pourrait refléter la tension intérieure de l’instance perceptive.
هر مفهوم روایی مستلزم چارچوب مکانی و زمانی خاصی است که از طریق ان در بستر متن گسترش مییابد. برخلاف رمان سنتی که بافت زمان و مکان را موضوعی حاشیهای تلقی میکند، رمان مدرن به مطالعهی دگرگونی ویژگیها و ساختار مکانی میپردازد و بازسازی بیوقفهی مکان را از ورای نگاه نهاد ناظر نشان میدهد. گذر میلان (1954)، به عنوان نخستین اثر برتر از میشل بوتور، که بر پایهی درکی چند اوایی از جهان واقع بنا شده است، روایتی کابوس وار از زندگی شهری است که شکاف روزافزون میان انسان و جامعهی مدرن را به تصویر میکشد. در حقیقت، جهان داستانی بوتور جهانی ذهنگرا (سوبژکتیو) است که در نگاه راوی یا در خوداگاه شخصیتهای رمان شکل میگیرد. با این حال، ساختار مکانی دربردارندهی یک بعد عینی نیز میباشد که برگرفته از جهان واقع بوده و به ساخت معنا در اثر کمک میکند. خوانشی عمیق از چارچوببندی مکان در رمان یاد شده به پژوهشگر این امکان را میدهد که به تصویر ذهنی نویسنده از دنیای مدرن دست یابد. ما در این مقاله نخست به تحلیل گزیدههایی از رمان بوتور میپردازیم که بر جنبههای توپوگرافیک بافت مکان تکیه دارند و در مرحلهی بعد سعی بر این داریم که ارتباط میان چارچوب مکانی و تنش درونی نهاد ناظر را اشکار کنیم.
Any narrative concept requires a particular spatio-temporal framework which
allows it to be developed on the textual level. Unlike the traditional novel where the spatial context is
marginalized, the modern novel highlights the dynamic aspects of space and represents its incessant
reconstruction under the perception of the enunciator. More precisely, within literary modernism
where the silent points of view (POVs) of the enunciators intertwine with verbalized dialogues, the
spatial framework is no longer limited to an objective dimension; but it develops a subjectivized place
where the inner world of the perceptual instance unfolds (Cf. Rabatel, Homo Narrans, 2008, Chapter
11). Accordingly, new mechanisms for the development of narrative space make it signify beyond its
immediate materiality. The conception of the world deployed through this new framing of space-time
favors access to the latent structure of the text and to the techniques of constructing the narrative
chronotope.
Butor's inaugural work, Passage of Milan, places the story in an enclosed space which projects the
inner tension of a its characters. The novel features an extradiegetic narrator who never ceases to
intervene in the process of the story through multiple perceptive comments and reports of thoughts.
The story is essentially based on the description of a twelve-hour night of celebration at the Vertigues
family’s house; they organize a party on the occasion of the twentieth birthday of their daughter,
Angele, and they bring together young inhabitants of the building: Louis, the cousin of the Abbots
Ralon, Henri Deletang, the young debauched neighbor, and the two Monge brothers, Vincent and
Gerard never stop dreaming of an intimate night with the young girl. Metamorphosed into a party
venue, this building gives rise to multiple secondary stories and surreal incidents. Breaking with
reality particularly stands out in the scene where the mysterious painting of Martin De Vere catches
fire, affecting the rest of the story with its sinister effects.
In this party which is peopled with unknown faces, the pursuit of stories and monologues become
more and more complicated. Certain faces fade away in favor of others who take on a particular
dimension. Butor's novel sets up an interweaving of various stories with a multitude of POVs. Each
story puts a different character at the center whose physical and psychological attributes are formed
through fragmented images or scattered inferential data. In this work, the hero will be decentralized for
the benefit of a large number of characters, one of whom comes to the surface each time. Moreover,
Samira SALMASIAHANSAZ — Etude des Representations Enonciatives de … | 154
the characteristics attributed to a character, the observed, contain subjective judgments from another character, the observer; and each character owns a limited perception of the reality; even the narrator who remains absolutely aware of the knowledge and the subjectivity of characters cannot necessarily guarantee their perceptions.
In the eyes of perceptual instance, certain spatial contexts stand out. Instead of transmitting the event content, the enunciative instance demonstrates his inner conflicts. In other words, we witness a twisted description of the spatial context which testifies to a visceral reaction (feeling) that results in a distortion of reality. Therefore, the material world is incessantly reconstructed under the perception of its observers; it also changes its meaning and appearance in terms of not only its concrete components but also the meaning to which a source of perception attributes.
On the whole, the spatio-temporal framework takes on a double function in the narrative: On one hand, affected by the inner voice of the character, the space takes on an imaginary aspect; it reflects the subjective world deployed in the perception of the narrator or the consciousness of the characters. On the other hand, an objective dimension reveals itself as soon as the spatio-temporal system uncovers an observable entity of reality, whose set of elements determine the construction of meaning in the story. Even though the detailed descriptions give a realistic load to the novel, the author breaks the chronological order of the narrative fabric, and plays on the possible plots. The retrospections, the interior discourses of characters, and the narratorial intrusions confuse the borders among the multiple strata of enunciation and lead us to constantly move from one spatio-temporal universe to another. The passage from one diegesis to another is displayed more particularly in the episodes where the border between the real and the fictional blurs in favor of a unique representation of the spatial structure.
An in-depth study of the conceptualization of space in Passage of Milan will allow us to access the mental image that Butor creates of urban modernity. According to Andre Rousseau (1993), the verbal display of spatial context occurs in two dimensions; the first dimension is shaped through topographical descriptions by which the configuration of places and objects are depicted; however, the second dimension is constructed through the perception of various subjects who determine the behavior of spatial elements. Accordingly, we will initially analyze the extracts which fundamentally focus on the topographical aspects of the spatio-temporal framework. We will then show how the conceptualization of spatio-temporal system could determine the psychological state of perceptual subject.
In conclusion, two spatial contexts within the framework of the fictional narrative are as follows: one which is based on the mimetic reproduction of the real world to which each narrative impeccably refers in one way or another and which serves to transfer the worldview of the enunciative instance; and the other is structured through the abstract concepts specific to the cognitive space of subject where memory data, perceptual experiences and language skills accumulate. After all, the essential point is the impact of enunciative structure of space in the construction of entire work.