Abstract
The desacralisation of Western social practices over the last few centuries, induced by the conquests of science, among other things, has had profound effects on the functioning of society and on individual thinking. The representation of Western society in three French novels from the literary period known as “l’extrême contemporain” depicts a materialistic world that represses the spiritual dimension which forms part of the human condition. “L’Anomalie”, an apocalyptic account of a cosmic crisis that confounds scientists and philosophers, illustrates Jean-Marc Ferry’s “post-secular” perspective according to which recent scientific discoveries, far from solving the enigmas of the universe, are uncovering its thousand mysteries, rendering the idea of the supernatural less implausible. Jean Brun describes man’s sense of alienation from the mystery of existence as “an ontological separation”. Man tries to abolish this separation and conquer time and space by means of science. In “Sérotonine”, medical science succeeds in keeping the depressed protagonist alive temporarily by regulating his hormones, but his emotional and spiritual crisis takes over in an individualistic world devoid of communal rites. Le “Voyant d’Étampes” traces the efforts of a failed academic to navigate a world governed by constantly changing normative rules prescribed and described by the social sciences. How should social issues be managed in a society where neither traditional religion nor the sciences provide solutions to existential crises? In response to contemporary issues, these novels represent various forms of resacralisation: love as secular spirituality, the subliminal nature of poetry, and the new doctrines of woke ideology.
Presenters
Janet NeethlingLecturer, School of Languages, North-West University, North-West, South Africa
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
Contemporary Literature, Desacralisation, Faith, French Literature, Religion, Resacralisation, Science
