AMOUR RÉTROSPECTIF, AMBIGUÏTÉ ET INTERTEXTUALITÉ DANS LE RÉCIT FANTASTIQUE

Abstract

Certain fantastic short stories by Mérimée, Gautier and Maupassant offer a peculiar vision of love and women, the latter represented as resusitated dead or as animated statues; an ideal and absolute dream, fusion of the antagonic forces of love and death. The beloved’s resurrection through the force of desire is a recurrent theme in Gautier’s imagery: a retrospective love which transports characters to an intemporal past. Ambiguity and uncertainty are also inherent to fantastic stories. In this respect, in this paper I examine narrative strategies –lexical devices, figurative language, etc.- that create a supernatural atmosphere. Intertextuality is also an essential element in fantastic fiction. In the works analysed there are passages reproduced to the letter, or even figurative representations –paintings, drawings- included as an independent story within the main story, thus establishing an intertextual dialogic relation among the different parts of the story and adding to the cryptic nature of the narration.