ІСТОРІЯ ТА МУЗИКА У БІОФІКЦІЙНОМУ РОМАНІ “ВСІ РАНКИ СВІТУ” ПАСКАЛЯ КІНЬЯРА

Abstract

Background. The article examines the specific features of the representation of history in the novel "All the World's Mornings" (1991) by a French writer Pascal Quignard. In this novel, the contemporary author reactualizes the Baroque period. He depicts the life stories of two famous composers of the time – Jean de Sainte-Colombe, who is the novels' protagonist, and his student Marin Marais. The author's approach to the depiction of these characters' biographies is characterized by a shift from the historical documentation and a significant predominance of fictional details over factual components. As a consequence, we can consider "All the World's Mornings" as a biofictional novel. Methods. The theoretical basis of this article relies on the contemporary francophone studies (A. Buisine, A. Gefen, K. Lyamlahy), which analyze the nature and the specificity of this genre. Results. In the context of the interpretation of "All the World's Mornings", the theory of biofiction allows the better understanding of the author's approach to the operation of history. Although the novel is set in the XVII century, the author, instead of representing the history of that epoque, concentrates on the peculiarities of the protagonist's inner life. Also, Quignard mostly deviates from the well-known facts about Sainte-Colombe and his student, imagining most of the key events of their lives and adjusting them to his own axiology. The author postulates distrust towards the traditional historiography and undermines the accustomed version of the history of baroque music. Quignard also depicts his own unconventional conception of temporality, which is based on his idea of "ancient times" – the writer's interpretation refers to the so-called time of the origins of everything, which continues its manifestation in the present. Thus, in Quignard's perspective, the task of an artist is to ensure the reflection of this "ongoing past" in his works. Conclusions. Our analysis allowed us to conclude that the genre of biofiction serves to represent the Pascal Quignard's unconventional understanding of history in his novels.