Figures de la servante: Françoise, symbole proustien de la culture française

Abstract

In Marcel Proust’s novel, « À la recherche du temps perdu », Françoise, the servant, is a prominent
character, although not as such explicitly introduced by the narrator. Her appearance evokes old French
traditions at all times, relying on or highlighting basic values of the French culture. As a character, Françoise is
made up of what she is saying as reported by the narrator pretending to remember past days, actions, words,
etc., but also of the observations he could make when spending some time next to her. Her name reminds of
France and she may be thought of as a symbolic character recalling to the present old traditions,
communication rituals, canonical behaviours, a whole axiological system. This study aims at presenting some
particularities of the text, by pointing to lexico-semantic, textual, dialogical, argumentative, and stylistic issues.