La Quête d’équilibre dans l’œuvre romanesque d’Anne Hébert by Serge A. Thériault, and: Approches structurales des textes by Serge A. Thériault, René Juéry, and: Proust et le texte producteur by John D. Erickson, Irène Pagès (review)

190 LETTERS IN CANADA 1980 farm are usually sombre, especiallyfor the menacing forest that surrounds it. The often inaccessible church and village of Peribonka, however, are treated in bright pastel colours, even in winter, as are the flashbacks or projections to the village of Saint-Prime or to an imaginary Massachusetts homestead, set in the summer. Sometimes the artist uses a 'montage' technique to contrast these imaginary sites and the alternating 'objective' ones (e.g., from the end of chapter 12 to the first two illustrations of chapter 13). There are also striking illustrations treating the physical labour of both pioneers and loggers, sometimes, too, in close proximity as in the final illustration of chapter 4 and the second one of chapter 5. These, together with scenes of haying, give a feeling of movement and effort through the arching of the bodies. Maria is not idealized, the artist stressing, as does the text, her robustness and broad frame. In almost all the illustrations she is wearing a coarsely woven greyish dress, sometimes partly covered by a blue apron. However, the single illustration that relates to the mysterious voices shows a vaguely defined couple, the woman resembling Maria in build, in a peaceful flower-decked meadow beside a gentle stream. In the background , beyond the dark wood-covered hills, is a prominent blue-tinted one. The small final signature of an evergreen bough and a cross also endorses the traditional interpretation of the novel. The publication of this edition and Nicole Deschamps's briefanalysis of the illustrations by Suzor-C6te for the original Lefebvre book in Le Mythe de Maria Chapdelaine (,Iesillustrations ... sont des mises entre guillemets de la realite quebecoise ... Personnages, objets, animaux, paysages, la premiere imagerie inspiree par Maria Chapdelaine appartient deja au folklore') point to the need for a careful comparative study of the iconography relating to the novel. The books reviewed here and the other valuable publications of the centenary year, too, should whet the appetite of Hernon researchers for further probing. (o.-z. SHEK) Serge A. Theriault. IA Quete d'equilibre dans ['",uvre romanesque d'Anne Hebert Hull: Editions Asticou. 223. $12.00 Serge A. Theriault et Ren~ Ju~ry. Approches structurales des textes Hull: Editions Asticou. 240. $14.00 John D. Erickson et Ir~ne Pag~s. Proust et Ie texte producteur Lawrence, Kansas: L'Esprit createur. 143 Ces trois ouvrages de prime abord heterogenes pour ce qui est des ceuvres etudiees, temoignent toutefois d'une visee commune, a savoir la HUMANITIES '9' volonte d'articuler Ie texte litteraire par I'entrernise de modeles avaleur theorique. La premiere etude de Serge Theriault sur 1 '