L’anomalie comme principe de l’univers romanesque – Sébastien Roch d’Octave Mirbeau
The anomaly as a principle of the fictional universe – Octave Mirbeau’s Sébastien Roch

Summary/Abstract: The notion of anomaly encompasses a multitude of systemic, physicalor psychic deviations and it can have a wide range of possibleinterpretations. Octave Mirbeau manages to capture all its nuancesby presenting, in his novel Sébastien Roch, a vision of reality filled withanomalies. In our contribution, we will show the abundance of defectsin the novelistic universe of Sébastien Roch, analyse their essenceand then move on to the influence they have on the eponymouscharacter. We will look at the corruption of the education systemrun by the clerics who denigrate the protagonist's rights in orderto preserve their own power; at mental disorders caused by painfulexperiences as well as at psychological dysfunctions; finally at physicaldeformities that often reflect the character vices of those affected.Our contribution shall depict a corrupted world where the “normal”is no longer considered as such.

• Details
• Contents