Queneau’s Fictional Worlds

The Author: Nina Bastin trained as an art historian, as well as studying French at Bristol University. She was a holder of two British Academy scholarships during her doctoral research into the reception of Queneau’s novels. She has taught a number of French language and literature courses at Bristol University, and specialises in the French novel.

Contents: Survey of the critical field of Queneau studies - Application of the principles of Cognitive Discourse Grammar to Queneau's novels - A generalised reinterpretation of specific features of the novels in terms of their effects upon cognitive text processing ('world-building') - Investigation into the internal organisation of Queneau's fictional worlds, and the problems they present for reconstruction by the reader - notably the subversion of world boundaries ('world-play'), and the positing of impossible spaces ('heterotopiae') - A theoretical analysis of the interplay between cognitive models and the philosophical notion of 'possible worlds' - Extensive close readings of three of Queneau's novels (Le Vol d'Icare, Les Fleurs bleues, and Loin de Rueil) - Extension of the notion of 'world-play' to describe Queneau's wider writing practice.