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The Cemetery and the Fear of the Dead

100%

Carrassi V.

Literatura Ludowa

2023

vol. 67

issue 1-2

153-168

Fear is a characteristic feature of many legends. And the fear of the death is probably our deepest fear. Death is a crucial event in folk culture, as it triggers an existential crisis which must be duly managed. The living need to distance themselves from the dead in order not to lose their own “presence” in the world. To maintain this distance, people can rely on a dedicated place, the cemetery, where the fear of the dead can be mastered and framed in a sacred dimension. Cemetery may be regarded as a liminal, hybrid space, connecting life and death, the human and the divine, the visible and the invisible. Hence, it can turn into a critical, dangerous place, a “legend landscape”, where odd, mysterious, frightening encounters are possible or, at least, believable. This is especially so if one enters a cemetery at night, when it is forbidden to the living and the darkness creates the perfect stage for fearsome presences. In the ATU 1676B narrative type, an individual bets to enter a cemetery at night in order to show her/his courage and/or refute the belief of the dead as ghosts, but this gamble results in a death from fright. A different case concerns the fate of those who face the night in the cemetery with genuine courage and respect towards the dead, as in a folktale collected by W.B. Yeats (ATU 326), and a (true) story of a woman sleeping in the cemetery (Motif Index C735.2.5). Overall, the cemetery emerges as an ideal setting for a cautionary tale, through which local communities meditate on key issues such as death, fear and belief/non-belief.

La pondération des mises de des Grieux et de Manon Lescaut

67%

Woodward S.

Quêtes littéraires

2023

issue 13

27-37

Spinoza considers how to even out wagers in a game of chance when the players have uneven means, compared to one another. It has already been observed by critics, that in the novel by Prévost, Manon Lescaut (1731, 1753), the hero and his lover do not play their games in the same manner, either in society or at the gambling house. They also do not weather the same losses. In fact, des Grieux wins even when he no longer cheats. Instead of following the logic of punishments, such as the Christian condemnation of gambling and promiscuity, or Prévost ’s own perspective of the abbot over his tale, it seems more relevant to consider that des Grieux attempts to pursue his case and correct chance to arrive at his desired outcome of earthly pleasure and fulfilment, by legal or illegal means. No matter the exhaustive efforts of des Grieux, their gamble to remain a couple backfires miserably. Manon dies; and he is left to follow the path devised by his family, and a role securing a suitable, comfortable happiness instead of blissful love.

Spinoza réfléchit à la manière d’égaliser proportionnellement les mises dans un jeu de hasard lorsque les joueurs ont des moyens inégaux les uns par rapport aux autres. Dans Manon Lescaut (1731, 1753), le roman de Prévost, les amants misent différemment lorsqu’ils s’adonnent à des jeux de hasard, ce qui a été observé par la critique, ainsi que le fait que des Grieux triche pour gagner, puis qu ’il continue à gagner y compris lorsqu’il ne triche pas. C ’est que l’équilibre des pertes et des gains ne fonctionne pas de la même façon pour les deux personnages parce qu’il n ’y a pas moyen de rééquilibrer le sort que la société leur réserve. En effet, leur couple n’est pas un pari possible. Au lieu de suivre la logique des conceptions scientifiques, ou chrétiennes du destin, le sort réservé aux diverses castes de la société semble plus pertinent. Malgré les efforts exhaustifs de des Grieux, leur pari de rester en couple se retourne lamentablement contre eux. Manon meurt, et il doit poursuivre sa vie non pas en recherchant la joie et le bonheur, mais en endossant convenablement son rôle dans le cadre qui lui revient de naissance.

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1 Literatura Ludowa

1 Quêtes littéraires

1 Carrassi V.

1 Woodward S.

2 2023

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The Cemetery and the Fear of the Dead

La pondération des mises de des Grieux et de Manon Lescaut