Essays
2013 - Ongoing
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Throughout my studies I have written a number of essays on different topics linked to literature, languages and cultures. This is a selection of essays and assignments which were particularly significant for me during my studies.
Bachelor's Dissertation
Forgetting to Remember: The Effects of the Loss of Memories on Collective and Individual Memory in Kazuo Ishiguro's The Buried Giant
Kazuo Ishiguro's novel uses an imaginary early medieval setting to convey the feelings of a fragmented identity caused by the loss of memories. In my dissertation, I have looked at the textual elements and metaphors that underline the role of memory in the creation of the Self and how the lack thereof influences the characters' perception of their individual and collective past.
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This dissertation was challenging in its scope and also due to the lack of formal analysis of the primary source. Despite the challenges, or maybe because of it, I truly enjoyed researching theories about collective memories adn the role of memories in the construction of a community and analysing the textual elements of the primary source in depth.
The Samurai: A Trickster Figure in Literature
This essay was written for the course 'Samurai in Literature and History' during my exchnage semester in Tokyo. In this essay, I have used the theoretical framework from the course Poetry and the Other Arts from the University of Luxembourg, and more specifically the figure of the 'trickster' and applied it to the works which I have read for a course about the samurai. I recognized that the 'trickster' figure can be applied to the characters which I encountered in that class and that this kind of representation disrupts the conventional, Western image of the samurai as the virtuous and honest warrior.
This essay was written for the course 'Contemporary Japanese Literature' in the Sophia University, Tokyo. This essay explores the creation of the myth in the two novels and the role of magical and mythical elements in the creation or construction of the Self. This essay was particularly challenging as there are many definition of the 'magical' in literature and the novel at hand also challenged the conventional image of 'magic'. I especially enjoyed analysing Murakami's novels as they convey dream worlds and mix Western myths and popular culture with Japanese folklore, thus creating a truly multicultural experience for the reader.
This is my final essay for the course "Photography" which revolved mainly around the UNESCO's initiatives and digital humanities.
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This essay was done after a visit to the UNESCO headquarters in Paris and after seeing the archives and digitisation technologies used by UNESCO in order to preserve humanity's knowledge.
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In this essay, I analyse four UNESCO commissioned photographs between the 50ies and 70ies. They depict how knowledge and information is shared. My analysis focuses on how the pictures are made, framed and what they were used for by UNESCO.
This paper uses a structural analysis of the novel in order to understand the mechanisms through which the novel frames the story. In this sense, the physical organization of the book and the different extra-textual components contribute to the story though the promise of a particular story even before the plot begins. I enjoyed writing this paper, because I could look at a different and so far unexplored component of stories and what is 'outside' stories.
This essay looks at the ways in which the object-subject relationship is perpetuated through the mechanisms of looking (observing, admiring, spying) and being looked at. This paper explores how Edith Wharton's novel uses the gaze (male and female, objectifiying but also conscious) to show the power relations in place in the social and historical context in which the story is set.
I wrote this essay in my second year of French Studies for the course Analyse du film. This essay looks at different perspectives which the movie version of Guy de Maupassant's short story displays, in the sense of camera movements, but also perspectives as visions of the world by the characters of the story. This essay is written in French.
La littérature de jeunesse est-elle destinée aux enfants?
In this short written assignment, I discuss the topic of 'youth literature'. This is a topic that always interested me. I wrote this assignment in 2015 for the course Communication scientifique:
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Depuis l'existence de l'écriture, l'homme essaie de définir ce qu'est d'écrire. Dans son ouvrage Qu'est-ce que la littérature?, paru en 19481, Jean-Paul Sartre pose la question: à qui écrit-on? Il serait une généralisation de dire que l'écriture s'adresse à tout homme ayant le désir de lire. Doit-on diviser la littérature en des catégories bien distincts? Peut-on affirmer que la littérature de jeunesse s'adresse uniquement à la jeunesse? Et si oui, qu'est-ce que la jeunesse? Dans quel but est être créée une littérature uniquement destinée à un certain âge?
Dans notre société, la plupart des enfants font la connaissance des livres même avant qu'ils apprennent à lire les lettres. Dans ces livres, les images jouent le rôle du texte : elles racontent une histoire. Au fur et à mesure que l'enfant apprend à lire, le texte prend de plus en plus de dominance par rapport aux images, jusqu'à ce que ces dernières disparaîssent complètement (sauf par exemple dans le cas des bandes dessinées). Le texte commence à comporter des significations de plus en plus profondes : un personnage bon et un personnage méchant, une morale et une leçon etc. Certains romans sont désignés comme littérature de jeunesse par certains, cependant, par d'autres, comme littérature pour adultes. Cette catégorisation dépend de plusieurs éléments : l'âge du personnage principal, son évolution au cours de l'histoire, le message global de l'histoire etc.
C'est le cas pour le roman de Salinger, L'Attrape-coeurs (The Catcher in the Rye). Pour certains lecteurs, il s'agit d'un roman de jeunesse, parce que le personnage prinipal ne montre pas d'évolution à la fin de l'histoire.2 Cependant, pour d'autres, ce roman ne reflète pas les réflexions d'un adolescent, mais celles d'un homme adulte. Le personnage principal Holden Caulfield est un adolescent avec lequel les lecteurs du même âge peuvent s'identifier à cause des situations qu'il vit. Cependant,sa façon de réfléchir montre trop de maturité pour paraître crédible auprès des leteurs adultes.3 L'histoire d'Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, Le Petit Prince est l'objet de plusieurs lectures possibles d'un même roman. Il peut être lu en tant que conte pour enfants parlant d'un prince qui voyage sur des planètes, mais également comme une histoire qui peut être compris de façons différentes selon l'âge du lecteur. L'universalité de son message permet ces diverses lectures, et il serait difficile voire impossible de ranger ce roman dans une seule catégorie avec laquelle tous les lecteurs seraient d'accord.
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