Open AccessMeaning despite ambiguity: discourse of narrator and character in Bernanos’ <i>Monsieur Ouine</i>
Author(s) -
Léopold Peeters
Publication year - 1989
Publication title -
literator
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.126
H-Index - 4
eISSN - 2219-8237
pISSN - 0258-2279
DOI - 10.4102/lit.v10i3.836
Subject(s) - meaning (existential) , character (mathematics) , narrative , ambiguity , reading (process) , theme (computing) , coherence (philosophical gambling strategy) , literature , style (visual arts) , philosophy , art , linguistics , epistemology , physics , geometry , mathematics , quantum mechanics , computer science , operating system
The authenticity, even reality, of spiritual and imaginative experience has in recent years been put to a severe test by the human sciences. The work of Bernanos has this theme at its core. The character of Monsieur Ouine, especially seems to be a predecessor of many a deconstructionist critic. He submits a young boy to what can be called a counter-initiation whereby all meaning ceases to have any importance at all. At first glance there seems to be a marked resemblance between the style of the narrator and that of the discourse of Ouine, but a careful reading reveals in the narration a rhythm and the existence of a dense network of images which constitute the coherence of the work and point to an incarnational conception of language