Le transfert maléfique : un nouveau motif du genre de l’horreur
Abstract
The present article discusses a motif of horror fiction, the “Evil transfer”, that remained unnoticed until now. The key idea of this motif is that, because evil is eternal and indestructible, it cannot be annihilated but only transferred. Four books and movies of the second half of the 20th c. have retained our attention: Thinner by Stephen King, The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty, It Follows by David R. Mitchell and the Ring trilogy by Kôji Suzuki. However, these rather recent examples must not hide the diachronic depth of such a motif: Renaissance humanists or biblical texts also present a similar idea.
Key words: motif (narrative), curse, horror fiction, horror films
References
Les références bibliques sont tirées de la Bible de Jérusalem. Paris, Éditions du Cerf.
Livres et articles
Augustin d’Hippone, 1865 : Contra Julianum Pelagianum. In : idem : Sancti Aurelii Augustini (10). Éd. Jacques-Paul Migne. Paris : Éditions J.-P. Migne, Collection Patrologie Latine (44).
Augustin d’Hippone, 1969 : Enchiridion ad Laurentium, de fide et spe et caritate. Éd. Ernest Evans. In : Augustin d’Hippone : Aurelii Augustini opera (13–2). Turnhout : Brepols, Collection Corpus christianorum, Series Latina (46).
Blatty William Peter, 1971 : L’Exorciste. Paris : Pavillons poche, Robert Laffont.
Bodin Jean, 1580 : De la demonomanie des sorciers. Paris : Jacques du Puys.
Flanagan Jane, 2001 : “South African men rape babies as ‘cure’ for Aids”. The Telegraph, 11 Nov, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/southafrica/1362134/South-African-men-rape-babies-as-cure-for-Aids.html. Date de consultation : le 25 février 2016.
King Stephen, 1984 : La Peau sur les os. Paris : Pocket, Albin Michel.
King Stephen, 1998 : Désolation. Paris : J’ai lu.
Le Quellec Jean-Loïc, 1995 : « Des lettres célestes au “copy-lore” et au “screen-lore” : des textes bons à copier ». Réseaux, no 74.
Medora Nilufer, 2011 : “Prostitution in India: A Global Problem”. In : Rochelle L. Dalla, Lynda M. Baker, John Defrain et Celia Williamson, dir. : Global Perspectives on Prostitution and Sex Trafficking. Africa, Asia, Middle East, and Oceania. Plymouth, Lexington Books.
Nicot Jean, 1606 : Thresor de la langue française. Paris : David Douceur.
Périer Marguerite, 1954 : « Mémoire sur la vie de M. Pascal écrit par Mademoiselle Marguerite Périer ». In : Blaise Pascal: Œuvres complètes. Éd. Jacques CHevalier. Paris : Gallimard, Collection Pléiade (34).
Sassonia Hercules, 1597 : Luis venereae perfectissimus tractatus. Padoue : Laurent Pasquato.
Schleiner Winfried, 1994 : “Infection and Cure through Women: Renaissance Constructions of Syphilis”. Journal of Medieval and Renaissance Studies, no 24.
Smith Francis B., 1979 : The People’s Health. 1830–1930. New York: Holmes and Meyer.
Suzuki Kôji, 1996 : Dark Water. Paris : Pocket.
Suzuki Kôji, 2014 : Ring. L’intégrale (Ring. Double Hélice. La Boucle). Paris : Pocket.
Terpstra Nicholas, 2010 : Lost Girls. Sex and Death in Renaissance Florence. Baltimore: The John Hopkins University Press.
Uther Hans-Jörg, 2004 : The Types of International Folktales: A Classification and Bibliography Based on the System of Antti Aarne and Stith Thompson. Vol. 1–3. Helsinki: Academia Scientiarum Fennica, 3 vols.
Films
Friedkin William, 1973: The Exorcist.
Mitchell David Robert, 2014 : It Follows.
Nakata Hideo, 1998: Ring.
Tourneur Jacques, 1957 : Night of the Demon.
Verbinski Gore, 2002: The Ring.
Université de Neuchâtel
Stéphane Ischi est doctorant en littérature française à l’Université de Neuchâtel (Suisse). Il est spécialiste des questions d’intertextualité, du fantastique et de la poésie française du xixe siècle. Il a publié des articles dans Romantisme et la Revue d’Histoire littéraire de la France.
Université de Neuchâtel
Simon Gabay est post-doctorant en littérature française à l’Université de Neuchâtel (Suisse). Après une thèse en philologie romane, il oriente désormais ses recherches vers les humanités numériques et l’ecdotique moderne (xviie siècle). Il a publié desarticles dans Vox Romanica et les Cahiers de recherches médiévales et humanistes.
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