The Myth of the Lost Paradise in the Novels of Jacques Poulin

Book excerpt: Socken analyzes the shape and direction of Poulin's creation narratives as they evolve in the novels and demonstrates their presence from the earliest quasi-political Un cheval pour mon royaume to the highly introspective Le Vieux Chagrin. The novels move from an outer-directed concept of the lost paradise as a state to be attained beyond the self to a sense of the lost paradise as the kingdom within, achievable first on the individual level as self-knowledge and only afterwards on the social level. Poulin introduces the theme of the soul and his personal concept of it, as the soul for him is proof of the inner life that embodies the qualities of tranquility and tenderness associated with the lost paradise. Lost paradise literature is universal and timeless. Poulin's portrayal is placed in historical context so that his contribution to the genre can be fully appreciated. Referring to studies by such critics as Mircea Eliade, Northrop Frye, Jerome S. Bruner, and Jack J.