RMST202-Literature Review

The novel, “Combray” by Marcel Proust was published over a hundred years ago, however, it features themes that are timelessly related to the human condition; mental illness, familial relationships, sexuality, love, betrayal. I find that a lot of literature focuses on, not necessarily these specific themes but similar things that are intimately linked to being human and therefore remain relevant hundreds of years later.

A little photo I took of the Paper Hound Bookstore in downtown Vancouver to add some spice to the blog post.

The first part of “Combray” focuses heavily on the narrator’s memory of childhood and more specifically his struggle with anxiety and familial relationships. Most of the piece is focused on his memories, but Proust sets up these memories by diving into the complexity of reliving past moments through dreams. As a reader, this sets up the rest of the events of the section to have an unreliable narration. We’re experiencing the events of the novel through the lens of the adult narrator reliving it through

the memories of his child self, therefore the interpretation of the events is tainted by the perspective of the child. Furthermore, this perspective is interesting because of the way in which he views the main character of interest, M. Swann. He sees him as a villain because of the way he disrupts the narrator’s evening routine with his mother. This perspective is influenced by the young narrator’s anxious attachment to his mother which is explored throughout the entire section.

The way that Proust explores anxiety in his novel is interesting because the narrator is reminiscing on the feelings he had as a child but with sort of an adult knowledge of the reason for his feelings. As well, I think that his minute and detailed descriptions of his anxieties provide an intimate and reflective reading experience. My question is: do you think Proust’s depiction of mental illness was a deliberate attempt at destigmatizing mental illness in a time when that topic was taboo or was it just a tool for storytelling?

I found that the ending of the first section was a kind of bittersweet realization. Instead of punishing his son for his behavior the father indulged his frenzied request and allowed his mother to spend the night in the narrator’s bedroom to comfort him. This event almost feels like surrendering because of the father’s previous aversion to his son’s nervousness.

Hello!

This is a very *aesthetic* photo of my roommates walking in Downtown Vancouver, I thought it would spice up my blog post, make it a little more interesting:)

My name is Jenna and I am currently in my third year of university but my second year at UBC! I started out my university career at the University of Victoria, which was a lot of fun and I really cherish the memories I made there. Unfortunately, it just wasn’t the right fit for me (these things happen) and I decided to transfer to UBC!

I’ve lived in Vancouver for five months and wow! it was an adjustment. After living in a smaller town my whole life, city living was somewhat of a culture shock (?). I think I have successfully acclimated to Vancouver though because when I went home for the holidays all my friends said that I dress like a quote “city girl” now haha. I think my only complaint about Vancouver would be I miss driving:( although I do not miss parking! If someone asked if I would rather spend a year in prison or the amount of time it takes me to parallel park, I would choose a year because it would honestly be quicker and probably less painful.

I’m really looking forward to this class although, for the sake of full transparency, I am taking it because it fulfills a degree requirement. But this is completely okay and convenient for me because I am very passionate about literature and love discussing it. Prior to the introductory video, I had really no idea what a “romance language” was*well that’s not entirely true, I knew that French was considered a romance language because I took french for too many years in middle and high school (raise your hand if you were also a former French Immersion Student)*. After watching the introductory lecture, I’ve learnt that Romance Languages are just languages that are vaguely related to Latin, which is cool, Latin is cool. Anyways, since attending the first class this morning, I am really looking forward to this course. I was a little hesitant about the blog posts but I like the creative aspect of it and I am really excited to see what everyone else comes up with.

Just in case anyone actually took the chance to read this quirky little blog post, here’s a photo of my sister’s dog/my nephew Henry. He’s quite adorable and the sweetest little pup ever:)