Original scientific paper
Acid Portrays Coated With Honey: The Process of Recognition in Jean-Philippe Toussaint's Writings
Cristophe Meurée
; Archives et Musée de la Littérature, Bruxelles
Abstract
In Jean-Philippe Toussaint’s novels, description is never objective – or, more accurately, it presents itself at the outset as subjective. The formal plasticity and the writer’s sense of humor play a large part in the phenomenon: the narration moves forward by shifting from an uncertainty to another. The phenomenon also affects the characters’ identity as well as their relationships. If we take a closer look at how Toussaint uses the art of portraying his characters, a truth seems to emerge, the same truth to which the „Cycle of Marie” (Making Love, Running Away, The Truth about Marie, Naked) points out: the dynamic truth where identification, mutual acknowledgment and gratitude are the key notions.
Keywords
Toussaint; description; identification; mutual acknowledgment; gratitude
Hrčak ID:
170360
URI
Publication date:
7.11.2016.
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