Platten, D (2018) Questions of Empathy and Understanding: Monsters in Modern French Fiction. Australian Journal of French Studies, 55 (2). pp. 184-201. ISSN 0004-9468
Abstract
This essay suggests that fictional monsters are like weather vanes, anticipating the winds of change that have prompted successive generations to revisit fundamental questions on the nature of humanity. With examples sourced from major texts in the modern French canon by Hugo, Zola, Tournier and Darrieussecq, as well as from the recent “téléroman”, Les Revenants, it postulates that, via the agency of the narration, the reader’s (or spectator’s) contact with the monster is profoundly affective. The argument is upholstered with recent research on the extent to which responses to such fictional encounters are modulated by empathy.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | This is an author produced version of a paper published in Australian Journal of French Studies. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Cultures (Leeds) > School of Languages Cultures & Societies (Leeds) > French (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 13 Aug 2018 15:22 |
Last Modified: | 26 Mar 2020 15:20 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Liverpool University Press |
Identification Number: | 10.3828/AJFS.2018.17 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:134202 |