Material surplus: the working of the abject in Toussaint van Boelare's 'Het Gesprek in Tractoria' and 'De Dode Die Zich Niet Verhing'
- Author
- Bart Verschaffel (UGent)
- Organization
- Abstract
- An important part of the short stories of Toussaint Van Boelare (1875-1947) is far removed from tragic, rural literature. These stories do not only dramatize the city and urban adventures. They also interiorize the deregulating mechanism typical of the urban condition: the 'deviation' replaces lust and fate. In Het Gesprek in Tractoria (1911) and De Dode die zich niet verhing (1938) the random, unreasonable intervention of bodily detritus - in the former a corpse, in the latter merde - disturbs the normal and anticipated course of events. The abject functions as a disquieting effet de reel which is responsible for the tragicomic failure of the (anti-) hero's life, while it unexpectedly provides a 'solution' and thus undermines both the pretensions of life and the credibility of the story.
Citation
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication: http://hdl.handle.net/1854/LU-363157
- MLA
- Verschaffel, Bart. “Material Surplus: The Working of the Abject in Toussaint van Boelare’s ‘Het Gesprek in Tractoria’ and ‘De Dode Die Zich Niet Verhing.’” SPIEGEL DER LETTEREN, vol. 48, no. 2, 2006, pp. 163–71, doi:10.2143/SDL.48.2.2019425.
- APA
- Verschaffel, B. (2006). Material surplus: the working of the abject in Toussaint van Boelare’s “Het Gesprek in Tractoria” and “De Dode Die Zich Niet Verhing.” SPIEGEL DER LETTEREN, 48(2), 163–171. https://doi.org/10.2143/SDL.48.2.2019425
- Chicago author-date
- Verschaffel, Bart. 2006. “Material Surplus: The Working of the Abject in Toussaint van Boelare’s ‘Het Gesprek in Tractoria’ and ‘De Dode Die Zich Niet Verhing.’” SPIEGEL DER LETTEREN 48 (2): 163–71. https://doi.org/10.2143/SDL.48.2.2019425.
- Chicago author-date (all authors)
- Verschaffel, Bart. 2006. “Material Surplus: The Working of the Abject in Toussaint van Boelare’s ‘Het Gesprek in Tractoria’ and ‘De Dode Die Zich Niet Verhing.’” SPIEGEL DER LETTEREN 48 (2): 163–171. doi:10.2143/SDL.48.2.2019425.
- Vancouver
- 1.Verschaffel B. Material surplus: the working of the abject in Toussaint van Boelare’s “Het Gesprek in Tractoria” and “De Dode Die Zich Niet Verhing.” SPIEGEL DER LETTEREN. 2006;48(2):163–71.
- IEEE
- [1]B. Verschaffel, “Material surplus: the working of the abject in Toussaint van Boelare’s ‘Het Gesprek in Tractoria’ and ‘De Dode Die Zich Niet Verhing,’” SPIEGEL DER LETTEREN, vol. 48, no. 2, pp. 163–171, 2006.
@article{363157, abstract = {{An important part of the short stories of Toussaint Van Boelare (1875-1947) is far removed from tragic, rural literature. These stories do not only dramatize the city and urban adventures. They also interiorize the deregulating mechanism typical of the urban condition: the 'deviation' replaces lust and fate. In Het Gesprek in Tractoria (1911) and De Dode die zich niet verhing (1938) the random, unreasonable intervention of bodily detritus - in the former a corpse, in the latter merde - disturbs the normal and anticipated course of events. The abject functions as a disquieting effet de reel which is responsible for the tragicomic failure of the (anti-) hero's life, while it unexpectedly provides a 'solution' and thus undermines both the pretensions of life and the credibility of the story.}}, author = {{Verschaffel, Bart}}, issn = {{0038-7479}}, journal = {{SPIEGEL DER LETTEREN}}, language = {{dut}}, number = {{2}}, pages = {{163--171}}, title = {{Material surplus: the working of the abject in Toussaint van Boelare's 'Het Gesprek in Tractoria' and 'De Dode Die Zich Niet Verhing'}}, url = {{http://doi.org/10.2143/SDL.48.2.2019425}}, volume = {{48}}, year = {{2006}}, }
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