Masters Degrees (Modern Foreign Languages)

Permanent URI for this collection

https://scholar.sun.ac.za/handle/10019.1/640

Browse

Browsing Masters Degrees (Modern Foreign Languages) by browse.metadata.advisor "Du Toit, M. C. K."

Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    La femme fatale : une reconsideration d'un archetype negatif
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2012-12) Laubser, Liza-Marie; Du Toit, M. C. K.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Modern Foreign Languages.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The stereotypical figure of the femme fatale as irresistible seductress, who inevitably brings about death, is well known. This figure is nevertheless strangely absent from Afrikaans literature. This is what makes the appearance of the character of Nicolette in André Brink’s novel, The Ambassador (1963), so remarkable. Not only is she a complex femme fatale, she also adds a new dimension to the cliché. The striking similarities between Nicolette and Kathe, the female protagonist in Henri-Pierre Roché’s novel Jules et Jim (1953), justify a comparative study between these two novels. Although both of them bring about death, it seems that the presence of these femme fatale characters has positive rather than negative consequences. Contrary to the stereotypical evil temptress, Nicolette and Kathe are more natural, spontaneous and unpredictable – apparently free from the constricting qualities of the bloodthirsty femme fatale. In this comparative study, the image of the femme fatale is investigated through the close examination of its role and function in Jules et Jim and The Ambassador. By examining the philosopher René Girard’s theories on mimetic desire, violence and sacrifice as well as Georges Bataille’s ideas on eroticism and death, the nature of the femme fatale in these two novels is analysed in order to determine to what extent the image of the femme fatale as negative archetype could be reconsidered.