Abstract
Robbe-Grillet's critical essays show him to be an energetic opponent of the dominant literary tradition and a combative proponent of the French New Novel. Yet for all his self-consciously polemic stance, Robbe-Grillet does not clarify what the New is to accomplish. For New and his other essays are not a manifesto or a guide to his fiction and films, and they can even be quite misleading.1 In particular, the notion that the new fiction is objective, cleansed of all metaphoric and allegoric allusions, has generated misconceptions and erroneous readings of his texts. His most quoted essay, Nature, Tragedy, Humanism (New pp. 49-75) argues that metaphor and allegory are anthropomorphic projections which create a fog of indistinct significations. A Future For The Novel and On Several Obsolete Notions (NN, pp. 15-24, 25-47) put forth the same argument. Things are simply there, and such meanings as people discover beneath their surface are inventions which ascribe coherence and significance to a neutral and non-signifying universe. (This position echoes Ortega y Gassett's call for a dehumanized art which is purged of metaphoric resonance and subterranean communication.) Robbe-Grillet's critique of subjectivity and
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
