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The Middle Ages as a Normative Element in Proust
Author(s) -
Sankovitch Tilde
Publication year - 1978
Publication title -
orbis litterarum
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.109
H-Index - 8
eISSN - 1600-0730
pISSN - 0105-7510
DOI - 10.1111/j.1600-0730.1978.tb00481.x
Subject(s) - innocence , magic (telescope) , element (criminal law) , middle ages , literature , perfection , beauty , normative , art , dignity , poetry , theme (computing) , aesthetics , philosophy , sociology , psychoanalysis , law , psychology , epistemology , theology , physics , quantum mechanics , political science , computer science , operating system
The theme of the French Middle Ages, inspired, no doubt, by Proust's childhood experiences and memories, and by his readings of Ruskin, constitute a focal point in A La Recherche du temps perdu . All manifestations of the medieval presence convey to Proust images of beauty and moral perfection, connected with the lost innocence of childhood and the deepest essence of ‘French‐ness.’ The medieval element contributes magic and poetry to the objects, people, places and even words which it affects by contact, and provides a touchstone for authenticity and worth. Medieval churches and cathedrals especially establish enduring norms by which to judge individuals and societies. They also suggest rules of behavior which may impose cohesion, stability and dignity on the apparently fragmented human experience, and divide people between those who belong to the timeless paradise of childhood, as symbolized by Combray, and those who fall into the corrupt hell of worldliness. The medieval opus francigenum , as Proust calls it, may overcome, through its continued creative impulse, the decaying action of time, and point to the truth which is the final goal of the Recherche .