英文摘要 |
Under the influence of the folk tales, One Thousand and One Nights, the west associates the orient with beauty, spirituality, knowledge and wonder. For this reason, in the 19th century, many romanticists visited this cradle of humanity. Geard de Nerval was one of them. This paper aims to analyze the particular way Nerval conducts his quest of identity in his novel, Voyage to the Orient. For Nerval, this trip aimed firstly to recover him from his madness. Though he was sent to a mental hospital for a crisis of madness in 1841, he felt that he was just “shaken” but not mentally ill. He wanted to look for his origins by visiting this area which was like a motherland for him. This paper begins by presenting Nerval’s way of traveling in a foreign country, and explains how this particular way decides the structure of his travel writing. Even in his convalesce, Nerval tried to create an original literary work with this travel. The second chapter studies how Nerval appropriated the real orient to himself in order to better explore it. During this trip, Nerval abandoned his appearance as a western man, and studies Arabic to become completely integrated into the life of the local people. What Nerval looks for is a way to rediscover the essential relationship between the human beings and its original religious meaning. For the fourth part, this paper interprets two mythologies, History of Caliph Hakem, History of queen Matin et Soliman, prince of genius, included in the novel. In fact, these two legends converge to Nerval’s quest for identity. Although this work by Nerval is full of passion, the final truth it delivers is melancholic. Even after making multiple religious and cultural explorations, a man still can’t be completely rid of the metaphysical emptiness. |