Du sens de l'(in)ouïe chez Villiers de L'Isle-Adam et Maupassant = On the Sense of (Un)Hearing in Villiers de L'isle-Adam and Maupassant Camille Bouillon

Format:

Book

Thesis/Dissertation

Author/Creator:

Bouillon, Camille, author.

Contributor:

University of Pennsylvania. Francophone, Italian, and Germanic Studies., degree granting institution.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

0205.

0401.

0578.

Local Subjects:

0205.

0401.

0578.

Physical Description:

1 electronic resource (210 pages)

Contained In:

Dissertations Abstracts International 87-07A

Place of Publication:

Ann Arbor : ProQuest Dissertations and Theses, 2025

Language Note:

French

Summary:

This dissertation argues that sound in nineteenth-century France, which had been redefined through scientific and technological discourses, and theories of the occult, became a medium through which writers simultaneously reimagined how perception functions, and how the sensorium could paradoxically access what is beyond the empirical world. This dissertation examines how Villiers de l'Isle-Adam and Guy de Maupassant adapted new models of sound into their literary creations, having been inspired by the reconception of hearing as a physiological process rather than a transparent reflection of reality, as expounded by Johannes Müller and Hermann von Helmholtz. While this dissertation relies heavily on close textual analysis, it also draws on approaches from sound studies and media history to situate these texts within a broader contemporaneous scientific discourse. The study begins by establishing the scientific and acoustemological understanding of sound in the nineteenth century focusing on the theories of vibration, resonance, and auditory perception of the day. It then examines how in L'Ève future (1886), Villiers satirically transforms the phonograph from a symbol of positivist ambition into a metaphysical tool, to identify the ear as a permeable interface, or medium, between matter and spirit. Turning to Maupassant, I analyze "Adieu mystères" (1881), "Un fou ?" (1884), and "Lettre d'un fou" (1885) to show how the author dramatizes a crisis of perception via auditory phenomena, indicating that sound is not a stable event but a locus of hallucination, suggestion, and epistemic instability. The results of this investigation reveal that these texts each depict something more than just supernatural events. They imagine listening itself as a speculative and ontological act. The dissertation shows that nineteenth-century French fiction engages directly in the construction of a modern auditory paradigm, with hearing itself becoming an instrument of knowledge, a point of crisis, and a gateway to what lies beyond the visible and measurable

Notes:

Advisors: Goulet, Andrea Committee members: Prince, Gerald; Met, Philippe

Source: Dissertations Abstracts International, Volume: 87-07, Section: A.

Ph.D. University of Pennsylvania 2025

Vendor supplied data

Local Notes:

School code: 0175

ISBN:

9798276001142

Access Restriction:

Restricted for use by site license