Quand le cheval paraît : représentations et fonctions diégétiques de la figure équine dans le roman contemporain français (1933-2016)

Abstract

<p>Horses are the vectors of multiple representations related to their specific abilities and properties. These have endowed it, especially in the mythical narrative, with an image in turn positive (magic horses, divine, solar) or negative (horses of nightmare, infernal, psychopumps).</p><p>By examining a varied corpus of French short stories and novels published between 1933 and 2016 (Paul Morand, Jean Giono, Claude Simon, Richard Millet, Laurent Mauvignier), we will focus on the peculiarities of equine figures in contemporary french fiction, their functions in the story and their places in the construction of the narrative.</p><p>The appearance of the horse in the novel also allows us to question the notion of scene and to define the «equestrian scene», returning to the definitions and the means of analysis given by Gérard Genette (Figures III), or Stéphane Lojkine (La Scène de roman). This theoretical journey allows us to question the existence of a horse-type, in the Balzacian sense, an autonomous and characteristic figure that can be found in the various stories through the equestrian scenes. The analysis of these scenes, which presuppose an interaction between the horse and the other characters, will lead us to answer the question of how the presence of horses allows the dramatization of the story.</p>