Böcker av Bronwen Martin

This book presents a close reading of four texts by Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clézio, guided by Gilles Deleuze's concept of metamorphosis, «becoming-animal». In his critique of anthropocentrism and Western reason, Le Clézio dismantles the opposition between mind and matter, language and life, developing Henri Bergson's notion of the living, «le vivant». A philosophical and ecological role is accorded poetic, sensorial expression, which is the means of communication between the multiple forms of life. For instance, the protagonist may become a bird: in their flight they form intercultural relations calling to mind the texts of Édouard Glissant and Patrick Chamoiseau. Importantly, Le Clézio never divorces the poetic from the socio-political. The text Bitna, sous le ciel de Séoul, for example, unfolds against the background of the war between North and South Korea. Through the figure of the war-traumatised homeless Algerian, Béchir, The Story of Dodo emerges as one of the most powerful critics of nationalism and capitalism ever written.

Provides information that a student needs when encountering semiotics for the first time or as a more advanced reader wishing to do in-depth semiotic readings. This book provides a brief historical overview of the field, an explanation of semiotic theory, key term definitions, outlines of the work of key thinkers, and key readings for students.

Since the Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded to J. M. G. Le Clezio in 2008, there has been a wave of new interest in his A uvre. This book traces the evolution of the writer's postcolonial thought from his early works to his groundbreaking autobiographical novel Revolutions, arguably his most subversive text to date. The author shows how Le Clezio's critique of colonialism is rooted in an early denunciation of capitalism and philosophical dualism, and sheds new light on the crucial roles played by Jean-Paul Sartre, Aime Cesaire and Frantz Fanon in his development. The author's close reading of Revolutions reveals a complex system of interconnections between the colonial conflicts from the 1700s to the 1900s, with recurrent patterns of violence, cultural repression and racism. The issue of neocolonialism is addressed and the persistence of the colonial mindset in contemporary Europe and Westernized countries is shown to echo the findings of Paul Gilroy, Max Silverman and Etienne Balibar. The book concludes with an examination of the utopian elements underpinning Revolutions, establishing close affinities with the work of Edouard Glissant and developing the notion of permanent revolution. Themes explored include those of storytelling, cultural memory, cultural identity, language, intertextuality and interculturality.

A reference to terms and models used in semiotics. Based on the theory evolved by the Paris School of Semiotics, it combines a wordbook with explanation of theory and practical illustrations. In the final section of the book there is a semiotic analysis of the fairy-tale, "Sleeping Beauty".