Representation des personnages âgés et mythe de l'eternel retour dans la Terre d'Emile Zola.

Abstract

This study examines the representation of elderly characters in The Soil (or La Terre) through the lens of the myth of the eternal return. The initial hypothesis was that the elderly protagonists in The Soil were represented in a realistic, symbolic, and stereotypical way because their whole lives are seen as a cycle like that of the myth of eternal return. The methodology of this research was inspired by the work of Guy Robert (1952), Lawrence Harvey (1959), and Philippe Hamon (2012). The selection of twenty-six passages taken at the beginning and/or towards the end of the novel generated a pattern of six motifs derived from the myth of eternal return namely: heredity, seasons, death, fertility, and earth. The passages were analysed in the light of those motifs. In conclusion, it was possible to confirm the hypothesis that elderly characters in The Soil were represented in a realistic, symbolic and stereotypic way because their behaviour, physical appearance and living place mimic a cycle that repeats itself countless times in analogy with the myth of eternal return. The analysis of the three-dimensional representation of elderly characters in The Soil informs us about what may be the different perceptions of old people in Emile Zola’ novels. It also shows that different factors produce agism and influence how old age is perceived in society.