Biblioteca della Ricerca

Fondata e diretta da Giovanni Dotoli

This study analyzes the rich pliability of an underlying organizational principle, enchevêtrement, in four Gidian texts of varying genres. Through Gide's reflections on the process of literary creation, excerpts from his Journal, and the consideration of a myriad of additional compositions, his fascination with webs, interlocking patterns, and intricate structures alternating between brillant complexity and impenetrability emerges. With a principle concentration on etymological, philosophical, and narratological foundations, this study most importantly mobilizes Gide's own terminology as a critical tool for examination of his creative works. L'Immoraliste, on orchestrated treatise on the oppositional forces of nature and culture staged in Europe and North Africa, serves as the base text from which to explore Gide's engagement with the dynamic of enchevêtrement. Les Faux-monnayeurs, Gide's showpiece of technical virtuosity, denounces artifice at various levels while a substratum of sub-Saharan Africa cyclically emerges. Voyage au Congo, composed just following Gide's only novel, provides new models of this concept ; as Gide encounters both unfamiliar botanical forms and unprecedented ethical complexities, his text reflects the multi-leveled thicket in which he becomes enmeshed while navigating otherness. Thésée , finally, stands as a culmination of Gide's experimentations as it offers multiple examples of literal and figurative enchevêtrements, suggesting a resolution of oppositional forces which his texts have explored. Enchevêtrement is demonstrated to be a highly malleable term serving as a sign of a nature/culture dynamic in continual evolution throughout Gide's work. Bordering between conscious deployment and spontaneous occurrence, it provides a substructure indicating continuity among highly disparate works spanning over half a century.