Purdue University Monographs in Romance Languages (vols. 1–42, 1980–1992)

It is tempting to speculate that had Ausiàs March (1397–1459) written in Spanish instead Catalan, or rather the Valencian form of it which was his native tongue, he would by now undoubtedly be more widely recognised as the finest lyric poet in the Iberian Peninsula before the sixteenth century, and as one of the greatest in fifteenth century Europe as a whole. This study concerns one aspect of March's poetry: his use of analogy. March's poetry provides a large and varied working context in which to approach the simile as a poetic instrument in its own right, and it is almost as much to this broad aim as to the more specific matter of the use and function of the similes and allied forms of analogy in March's work that this study is addressed. Partly with the non-specialist reader in mind—someone with an interest in simile but not necessarily a direct concern with March—the quotations in Provençal and Catalan have been translated.

Añadir uno más a los múltiples estudios sobre don Juan quizá parezca tarea innecesaria o vanidosa. A veces pienso que don Juan, junto a su lista de mujeres seducidas, pudiera presentar otra, más larga si cabe, de críticos seducidos por sus andanzas. Mas no sobre don Juan sólo. Pues las figuras que rondan en torno suyo, singularmente las mujeres y el Comendador, lo determinan de tal modo que sin ellas se volatizaría. Don Juan es un mito y, como tal, un objeto de fantasia o deseo, no ya del autor o del lector, sino de aquellos otros personajes que con él se rozan. Aparente protagonista, su existencia se subordina a la de los seres cuyo vacío figurativamente llena o cuyo deseo frustra, según se prefiera mirarlo. Mi estudio, aunque comprenda literaturas foráneas, se centra en la literatura española.

The objective of this study is to inquire, from a broad epistemological view, into the underlying nature of fictions, and above all, to discover how it is possible to create and process them. In Chapter One, I put forth four "postulates" in the form of though experiments. in Chapter Two I turn attention to make-believe, imaginary, and dream worlds, and how they can be conceived and perceived only with respect to the/a "real world." Chapter Three includes a discussion of the affinities and differences between one's tacit knowledge of certain aspects of the number system in arithmetic (an ordered series) and the range of all possible fictional entities (an unordered network). In Chapter Four I establish more precisely the relations between one's "real world" and one's fictional worlds in light of the conclusions from Chapter Three. And, in Chapter Five, I attempt to construct a formal model with which to account for the construction of all possible fictional sentences.

While Calderón's autos portray this teleological view of life with unequaled ingenuity, his comedias lie somewhere on the line of development of European thought and activity between the other-worldiness of orthodox Thomism and the naturalism of which Spinoza's ideas are one example among many. Let us characterize the comedias briefly by stating that the motives which move the dramatic action forward are generally of a teleological nature; that is, they envisage some hypostatized end outside the individual characters. Yet, there are key moments when it becomes apparent to the reader or spectator that these ends have been created and set before the characters by themselves, by the requirements of their social standing in the play, by the manipulating dramatist Calderón, or, in broader terms, by the social climate of the audience for whom these plays were written and performed. Both reason and exalted passions become the preserve of noble blood in Calderón's plays. Whether he is dealing with vengeful husbands, monarchs, usurpers, contemplative men of learning, or saints, the thread of social distinction never disappears. The concern of his characters that they not commit a "low" action, is not simply a Christian concern with avoiding sin. The characters are much more concerned with practicing a virtue which will distinguish them from the vulgar.

The Argentinian writer Julio Cortázar was clearly influenced by his predecessors John Keats and Edgar Allan Poe. However, to what extent? Which aspects of the two Romantics have been kept and which ones transformed by Cortázar’s imagination? And is there a common bond in the works of Keats and Poe which is also the common denominator for their works? And why these particular images, themes, or ideas? This books tries to answer all these questions and is of interest to everyone who wants to know more about Cortázar.

Alain Robbe-Grillet (1922 –2008) was a French writer and filmmaker. His first involvement with the cinema was in the early 1960’s; scripting one of the most controversial films of the decade, L’Année dernière à Marienbad , directed by Alain Resnais.

In this study the focus lies on the cinema of Robbe-Grillet . Each chapters deals with a specific film and a specific aspect of his work.

Selon une dynamique évidente mais, apparemment, irrésistible, les textes médiévaux mal connus tendent à le rester, et leur obscurité à se justifier d'elle-même. La raison immédiate en est, cette fois, une répétition régulière d'une très vieille hypothèse, jamais vérifiée, sur la nature de la Chanson d'Antioche. La présente étude vise en premier lieu à briser, au profit d'une littérature parfois incroyablement méconnue, le cercle vicieux des écrits de seconde main; elle peut aussi, à l'occasion, servir l'étude du processus d'obscurcissement lui-même. Nous nous efforçons donc de répondre ici à une double question historique et critique. Comment se fait-il qu'on entend parler si peu—et si méchamment—d'un cycle épique majeur et unifié, celui de la Croisade? Quelle est l'origine du topos critique qui assigne à ce Cycle un rang inférieur aux autres, quelquefois en le rejetant totalement hors du genre épique? Car nous avons affaire à un topos, dont il s'agit de bien mesurer l'étendue.