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- Title
Absurd Things and People as Objects in Éric-Emmanuel Schmitt's When I Was a Work of Art.
- Authors
Armianu, Irina
- Abstract
More frequently than one thinks consumerism comes up repeatedly as the main thesis in postmodern literature. When I Was a Work of Art is a 2002 French novel that explores the loss of humanist values in a contemporary dysfunctional society. In this generic world every physical presence, including the human body, has been appropriated by the consumerism and transformed into merchandise. Famous for his witty characters and engaging plots, Éric-Emmanuel Schmitt focuses on deep sociological reflections and introspective analysis of the everyday modern man. This short novel is also a poetical art because it questions the ultimate work of art imagined by a sculptor and its consequences, thus catching the attention through its Faustian theme and auto fictional writing. Zeus Lama wants to sculpt a human body and to create a work of art alive. He finds an easy prey in Adam, on the verge of committing suicide. The notoriously eccentric artist is determined to exceed his own fame and to create something unheard of. Consequently É.-E. Schmitt's creative reality is continuously split between the two characters in the novel: the sculptor, looking for an outstanding creative experience, and Adam, who struggles to regain his civil rights and his identity.
- Subjects
SCHMITT, Emmanuel; CONSUMERISM; POSTMODERNISM (Literature); HUMANISTIC ethics; FRENCH literature
- Publication
Humanities Bulletin, 2022, Vol 5, Issue 2, p102
- ISSN
2517-4266
- Publication type
Article