On Alain Robbe-Grillet’s Poetics Of Description

The French New Novel’s coming into the spotlight during the 1950’s marks a significant revolution in terms of narrative changes, viz. "description"--taking the place of "narration"-- became the motive as well as the dominant component of literary texts. Within this influential movement, however, the leading writer Alan Robbe-Grillet is undoubtedly a representative one, whose writing and theoretical assertions revolve around a conscious reformation of descriptive technique. In other words, Grillet’s innovative approach to "description" serves as the rendezvous point of his multifaceted reflections on literature and other artistic forms. The purpose of this thesis is to explore the particular significance of "description" to Robbe-Grillet, thereby prompting a closer scrutiny of "description" itself. The main content of the three chapters are as follows:Chapter one first examines the distinction between Balzac’s type of description and that of Robbe-Grillet. for the New Novelists, especially Grillet himself, openly attacked Balzac by launching a descriptive revolution. Then it goes on to trace the formation of Grillet’s poetics of description along two lines:one is the literary origin, the other is the life experience, with a focus on the inherited qualites of this avant-garde writer.Chapter two mainly studies the form and internal alterations of Grillet’s new descriptive mode by a close reading on three of his texts (viz. La Jalousie, Dans Le Labyrinthe, La Maison de Rendez-vous), each representing the characteristics of different stages, and concentrating on the pioneering side along with the inherited qualities.The final chapter-ushering in contemporary theory on the working definition, function and classification of description--aspires to further systematically reflect on the Robbe-Grillet’s poetics of description as well as the textual status and potential of this problematic concept.