Title: The myth of the lost paradise in the novels of Jacques Poulin /
Authors: Socken, Paul, 1945-
Publisher: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press ; Associated University Presses,
Year: 1993
Subjects: Poulin, Jacques, Criticism and interpretation.; Golden age (Mythology) in literature.; Paradise in literature.; Creation in literature.; Myth in literature.
Abstract: This study presents the universal myth of the lost paradise in the first seven novels of the Quebecois writer Jacques Poulin and examines the way in which Poulin has adapted the myth for his own purposes. Each of Poulin's novels has at its center a creation narrative - or a series of creation narratives - which evokes an idealized world. The properties of this idealized world are inner peace and harmonious relationships which result from the search for an understanding of the self. The contrast between the ideal and the world in which the characters operate creates a tone of nostalgia and melancholy which recalls the image of a lost paradise, a world of perfection that once existed. In recalling the myth, Poulin's work is undeniably ancient - but it is also as modern as the world whose assumptions it must represent. Paul G. Socken shows that Poulin gains his authority by bridging converse realities.^