Histoire du Structuralisme. Vol. I: Le champ du signe; Vol. II: Le chant du signe by François Dosse (review)

L ’E sprit C réateur Joan E. Howard. F ro m Vio le n c e t o Visio n .- Sa c r ific e in t h e W ork s o f M a r g u er ite Yo u r c en a r . Carbondale & Edwardsville, IL: Southern Illinois University Press, 1992. Pp. 323. $32.50. In From Violence to Vision, Joan Howard analyzes the theme of sacrifice, which she considers to be the “ key” to Marguerite Yourcenar’s oeuvre, in Qui n ’a pas son Minotaure ?, Le Mystère d ’Alceste, Nouvelles orientales, Le Coup de grâce, Denier du rêve, Mémoires d ’ Hadrien, and L ’Œuvre au noir. Howard considers sacrifice from a number of different viewpoints, from myth to poli­ tics. She shows Mircea Eliade’s concept of myth as a “ return to the origins” (4) operating in these texts, but also stresses Yourcenar’s efforts to divest myths of their power and to undermine “ their semiotic fixity” (15). Allan Megill’s views, on the aestheticism of modern thinkers, and René Girard’s theory, that sacrifice and violence are basic to the structure of our social and political systems, are used to interpret other aspects of Yourcenar’s thought. Denying the once prevalent attitude that Marguerite Yourcenar is a classicist who “ escapes” to the past to seek solace and more acceptable values, this book finds that Yourcenar “ summons us instead to a radical rethinking of what the human creature is” (8). Indeed, two of Howard’s most basic words are “ deconstruction” and “ subversion.” For those who read Yourcenar in translation, all quotations appear both in French and in English. Howard uses published translations, if available, but annotations clarify what might be “ lost in translation.” Her study reflects careful scholarship in a close reading of the texts. Her structure and extensive cross-referencing point up images, devices and themes common to many of the works studied. The book speaks to a variety of audiences, and the usefulness of individual chapters will depend on each reader’s background in Yourcenar studies. Many will find the chapters on Hadrien and L ’Œuvre au noir helpful for clarifying obscure passages and situating these novels in her opus. On Zeno’s meditations, for example, Howard identifies and explicates those parts that are reflections of Buddhist, especially Tantric, religious practices so that readers rooted solely in Western tradition not miss the important implications based on Eastern thought. Those familiar with the last ten years of Yourcenar criticism may well find Howard’s readings of the theater and short stories more valuable, since so much less has been written on them. Marguerite Yourcenar herself would no doubt have been pleased to find her work summed up, “ Thus does her practice of literature represent both a way . . . to realize the unity of all that is and an enactment of the imperative of service to one’s fellow creatures that is such a crucial part of the ethic of the Yourcenarian oeuvre.” C. F r ed er ick Fa r r e l l , Jr . & E d ith R. Fa rr ell The University o f Minnesota, Morris FrançoisDosse. H isto ir e du St r u ctu ra lism e. Vol. I: Le champ du signe; Vol. II: Léchant du signe. Paris: “ La Découverte” , 1991, 1992. Pp. 490 & 584. 198FF le vol. Maintenant que le raz-de-marée structuraliste s’est retiré, après avoir submergé toute pensée, toute création pendant près de trente années, le moment était venu de faire le point, de distinguer l’apport durable de ce mouvement des paradoxes, outrances et contre­ vérités et surtout de la part de publicité journalistique qui s’attache inévitablement à toute théorie nouvelle. C’est ce que fait François Dosse dans sa monumentale—et magistrale— Histoire du Structuralisme, dont on ne saurait trop louer la valeur documentaire et 100 W in t e r 1992 Book Reviews l’objectivité. Cet ouvrage d’un style vivant, clair, sans jargon, d’une lecture agréable (ce qui ne veut pas dire facile), où l’historique du mouvement se mêle à l...