French Literature Reviews - 2026

The One and the Multiple
Literary Theory, Linguistics and Stylistics

The One and the Multiple
edited by Zsuzsa Simonffy
ISBN-10: 963-7094-57-1
ISBN-13: 978-963-7094-57-6
© TINTA Könyvkiadó, Budapest
2006
orders to be sent to: info@tintakiado.hu

TABLE OF CONTENTS I
FOREWORD VII
Prologue

ZSUZSA SIMONFFY
THEORETICAL AND EMPIRICAL FOUNDATIONS OF THE MULTIPLE 1
1. INTRODUCTION 1
2. THE BINARY OPPOSITION 1
3. THE TRAPS OF REPRESENTATION 4
4. TOWARDS THE PRIMACY OF RELATION 5
5. ILLUSTRATIVE EXAMPLES 7
6. THE PRINCIPLE OF CONNECTION 9
7. DELEUZE'S "AND" 9
8. CONCLUSION 12

Part One
FROM DISCOURSE TO THE INTERCULTURAL

DANIELLE FORGET
THE INTERCULTURAL: THE ONE AND THE MULTIPLE 17
1. INTRODUCTION 17
2. THE ASSERTION OF IDENTITY: FROM MONOCULTURALISM TO PLURICULTURALISM 19
3. THE NATIONAL CONTEXT 21
4. A COGNITIVE FRAMEWORK 31
5. CONCLUSION 35

MÁRTA KÓBOR
UNIQUENESS AND MULTIPLICITY IN INTERCULTURAL TRANSLATION 39
1. INTRODUCTION 39
2. LINGUISTIC UNIQUENESS OR MULTIPLICITY 40
2.1. The multiplicity of languages 40
2.2. The uniqueness of languages 41
3. INTERCULTURAL UNIQUENESS AND MULTIPLICITY 43
3.1. Cultural uniqueness/multiplicity from the perspective of communicative possibility 44
3.2. Cultural uniqueness/multiplicity from the perspective of translation modes 44
4. CONCLUSION 48

KENNETH MEADWELL
FRAGMENTATION AND UNIFICATION: CANTIQUES DES PLAINS, FICTION, AND COLLECTIVE/INDIVIDUAL IDENTITY 50
1. INTRODUCTION 50
2. FOCALIZATION AND MODALIZATION 51
3. THE NARRATIVE VOICE 51
4. THE TEMPORAL DIMENSION 53
5. TOWARDS THE MULTIPLE VOICE 57
6. INSTEAD OF A CONCLUSION 59

RÓBERT VARGA
TOWARDS AN ECONOMY OF CHAOS: AHMADOU KOUROUMA'S *ALLAH IS NOT OBLIGED* 60
1. INTRODUCTION 60
2. TOWARDS AN ECONOMY: THE NOVEL AS A NARRATIVE OF CHAOS? 60
3. KNOWLEDGE, ALLAH, PALABRA: A RETURN TO COMMITMENT? 63
4. DICTIONARIES THAT "BIFURCATE" 66
5. A WORLD IN PIDGIN OR THE READER'S INITIATION 68

Part Two
TOTALITY AND FRAGMENTS

JENÕ ÚJFALUSI NÉMETH
EMBEDDED STRUCTURES IN THE SERVICE OF UNITY OF MEANING IN GEORGES DE SCUDÉRY'S BAROQUE EPIC 75
1. INTRODUCTION 75
2. DIGRESSIONS 77
2.1. First embedding 78
2.2. Second embedding 79
2.3. Third embedding 79
3. EPISODES 80
4. BY WAY OF CONCLUSION 90

KATALIN KOVÁCS
THE ISSUE OF INCOMPLETENESS IN DIDEROT'S ART CRITICISM 93
1. INTRODUCTION 93
2. THE SKETCH AND THE FINISHED PAINTING 94
3. THE RUIN AND INCOMPLETENESS 98
4. DISCONTINUOUS WRITING AND FRAGMENTED VISION 102
5. CONCLUSION 104

BÁLINT KÉKEDI - GYÖRGYI MÁTÉ
A TIME FOR EVERYTHING 106
1. INTRODUCTION 106
1.1. Patriotism and the unity of Danubian peoples 110
2. A TIME TO SEEK 113
2.1. Freeze frame 116
3. A TIME TO GATHER THE MULTIPLE 118
3.1. Half, two, celestial double 118
3.2. A consciousness 121
3.3. Truth and the limited infinite 125
4. A TIME TO LOVE 127
5. CONCLUSION 130

GABRIELLA TEGYEY
"MULTIPLE VOICES, INTERSECTING VOICES: A CIXOUS NARRATIVE. *OR, THE LETTERS FROM MY FATHER*" 133
1. INTRODUCTION 133
2. FRAGMENT NO. 1 135
3. FRAGMENT NO. 2 137
4. FRAGMENT NO. 3 139
5. FRAGMENT NO. 4 141
6. FRAGMENT NO. 5 143
7. FRAGMENT NO. 6 145
8. FRAGMENT NO. 7 147
9. FRAGMENT NO. 8 149
10. CONCLUSION 151

Part Three
FROM GRAMMATICAL VALUES TO ARGUMENTATIVE VALUES

PATRICE GILLARDAUX
ONE, MULTIPLE, AND GRAMMATICAL NUMBER (*) 155
1. INTRODUCTION 155
2. CONTENT OF THE SINGULAR/PLURAL OPPOSITION 156
2.1. Content of the notion of singular 156
2.2. Content of the notion of plural 157
3. VALIDITY OF THE SINGULAR/PLURAL OPPOSITION 158
3.1. Plural nouns and the "more than one" value 158
3.2. Singular nouns and the "one" value 160
4. RELEVANCE OF THE PROBLEM OF THE ONE AND THE MULTIPLE 162
4.1. Multiple and Plural 163
4.2. One and Singular 163
5. DIALECTIC OF THE ONE AND THE MULTIPLE 164
6. SUMMARY 165

PIERRE-YVES RACCAH
POLYPHONY AND ARGUMENTATION: FROM DISCOURSE TO LANGUAGE (AND BACK...) 169
0. INTRODUCTION 169
1. SOME PRELIMINARIES 171
1.1. Observables of human languages 171
1.1.1. Preliminary distinction 172
1.1.2. Conceptual differences and degrees of observability 174
1.2. Subjectivity of discourse and objectivity of its description 178
2. SEMANTIC FACTS 181
2.1. Discourse analysis and corpora 181
2.2. Rational constraints on causal attributions 182
2.3. From the paradigm of information transmission to that of point-of-view manipulation 184
2.4. Phenomena that further 'complicate' matters… 189
2.4.1. One cannot fail to understand what one can interpret 189
2.4.2. Discourses bear an ideological signature 190
2.4.3. Points of view suggested by a word influence the meaning of other words 190
2.4.4. Languages impose points of view but allow the opposite to be expressed 191
2.5. Why 'manipulation'? 193
3. SEMANTIC DESCRIPTION AND CONSTRAINTS ON POINTS OF VIEW 194
3.1. Polyphony in language 195
3.2. A simple example 197
3.3. Argumentation within language 198
3.4. The semantics of points of view 199
3.4.1. Connectives 200
3.4.2. Constraints on the nature of points of view 204
3.4.3. Elementary evaluative constraints: euphoric and dysphoric 205
3.4.4. Mini-programs 206
3.5. Calculation of ideological force 207
4. HOW TO FORMULATE THESE CONSTRAINTS? 208
4.1. Lexical topical fields 209
5. CONCLUSION 212

This collection of scholarly contributions edited by Zsuzsa Simonffy gathers diverse investigations into the theoretical foundations of multiplicity, intercultural translation, and narrative structure. The volume moves from broad theoretical frameworks concerning binary opposition and representation toward specific examinations of literary works and linguistic phenomena. Contributors address topics such as cultural uniqueness, fragmentation in fiction, embedded structures in baroque epic, incompleteness in art criticism, and the complexities of grammatical number and polyphony in language.

Readers interested in literary theory, cultural translation, and linguistic analysis may find this collection relevant. The volume engages with various texts and writers, including Ahmadou Kourouma's Allah Is Not Obliged, Georges de Scudéry's baroque epic, Denis Diderot's art criticism, and Hélène Cixous's Or, the Letters from My Father.