L’épée du soleil

Nouvelle parution sur la place des personnages dans le roman : la piste suivie semble tout à fait originale, conjuguant la poétique du roman (et la théorie de la fiction ?) à des considérations fondamentalement narratives.

Alex Woloch, The One vs. the Many. Minor Characters and the Space of the Protagonist in the Novel, Princeton UP, 2003, 416 p. (ISBN: 0-691-11314-9)

The One vs. the Many develops a powerful new theory of
characterization, based on how narratives distribute limited
attention among a crowded field of characters. Moving beyond
the entrenched positions that have long framed inquiries
into this question, Woloch demonstrates how each
individual–whether the central figure or a radically
subordinated one–emerges as a character only through his or
her distinct and contingent space in the narrative as a
whole.