Le surnaturel et le corps : le néofantastique du corps dans les récits contemporains francophones

Abstract

The aim of this article is to study the relationship between the supernatural and the representations of the body in neo-fantastic francophone short stories (by J.-P. Andrevon, J.-P. Bours and A. Dorémieux). My hypothesis is that the classic 19-th century fantastic literature was the fantastic of the appearance of the body (e.g. spectral), while today, with the dominating motifs of decorporalization, we can speak about the neo-fantastic of the disappearance of the body. In both cases, the body is the main producer of the supernatural, although presently the isotopy of this motif is based on regressive dynamics. Moreover, this article examines the cases of monstrous bodies in neo-fantastic literature, particularly vagina dentata as the source of the supernatural. It also analyzes the metaphorical and metonymical function of the body.