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The American influence on the literary works of Yourcenar

OH Jung-Sook 1

1경희대학교

Accredited

ABSTRACT

Although Marguerite Yourcenar, a representative French woman writer, lived47 years in the United States from 1939 to 1987, the American influence onher life has not been studied either at home or abroad. The purpose of this studyis to examine chronologically the American influence on the following three literaryworks of Yourcenar: The Little Mermaid (1942), River Deep, Dark River (1966)and Recluse (1982). The Little Mermaid is a drama, presented in musical format, about the identitycrisis and inner conflict of Yourcenar. Unlike the little mermaid who burst likea bubble in Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale, Yourcenar associates her deathwith the image of ascension. River Deep, dark river is a translation of the Negrospiritual expressing the suffering of African Americans. Recluse, her last novel,deals with the life story of a simple man living in nature on a small island. Thisnovel shows Yourcenar’s desire for a pure world that is not defiled by humangreed. Yourcenar sponsored major human rights organizations and environmentalgroups in her life, and donated her entire fortune for human rights and the protectionof Wild Fauna and Flora. The American influence on the literary works of Yourcenarcan be summarized as a "great turning point", because she was transformed froma humanistic writer into an intellectual actor.

Citation status

* References for papers published after 2023 are currently being built.

This paper was written with support from the National Research Foundation of Korea.