Carnaval : le discours populaire et l'art du bonimenteur chez Bonaventure Des Périers ; suivi de Propos et contes avinés
This master’s thesis in research/creation explores the popular scope as well as the theatrical aspect associated with the narrative figures that are the pitchmen.            Following a critical reading of the Nouvelles récréations et joyeux devis (1558) from Bonaventure Des Périers, the essay portion of the thesis attempts to identify the particular posture presented by the pitchman narrator from the French Renaissance. We have attempted to illustrate how this discourse used by Des Périers, through his particular stylistic and discursive structure, partakes in the pitchman figure who addresses the readers directly as he would do in the public square and uses this posture to play with them, using paradoxical effects of proximity and detachment.         This playful manner through which the pitchmen distinguish themselves will fin echoes in the creation portion of this thesis. Propos et contes avinés is a collection of short stories inspired by the boccaccian tradition in which the protagonists tell stories in order to convince their listeners of the validity of their opinions. Their dialogue (the discourse) is juxtaposed with narrative (the tale) in a carnivalesque atmosphere.
Des Périers Pitchman French Renaissance Short stories collection Carnivalesque