| dc.description.abstract | The Romantic French writer, Gérard de Nerval, published his collection of short stories, Les Filles du feu, in 1854. Sylvie is one of the stories. By reason of various musical elements in this story, such as the lyrics of the female character’s favorite songs, a musical story structure and the poetic words, we apply the theory of intertextuality to study the music and the musicality in the story.
The thesis begins with a research into the influences of Nerval’s writing career. Among the French writers, the poems of Ronsard determine the early works of Nerval. Besides, the philosophy of Rousseau is widely used and transformed in his works. When talking about the German writers, Goethe and other poets’ poems bring an occult atmosphere to the works of Nerval. During the voyages in Germany, the author of Sylvie shows his interest toward the lieder (German songs) which lead him to a study of chansons.
In chapter two, there is firstly an analysis to the interrelationship of the roles. In manner of dividing the heroines into three categories, the day, the dusk and the night, we endeavor to clarify the different characteristic of each heroine. Then, one heroine usually responds to another heroine, and such fusion composes polyphony in the story. The polyphony also occurs when the past and the present overlap.
The third chapter aims at the study of the structure of Sylvie by means of musical terminology. The circular moves of the hero create a roundel. The roundel spins from a slow speed to a fast speed. However, the feeling of the hero and Sylvie becomes more and more distressed, which announces the failure of chasing the past love. We observe as well a symmetrical plot that demonstrates a variation of the love story of the hero. Moreover, the musical elements are important in the story. The musical instruments, the noises from the kitchen, the laugh and the words used thoroughly by the author not only influence the atmosphere of the story, but also increase the poetic aspect to the story. In addition, the birds and its chirps indicate some metaphors in Sylvie.
For Nerval, the chasing of the past and the love seem endless. At least, in his works, he could continue constantly the journey, just like the chansons are always sung from one generation to another.
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