Eremitisation through Agamben in Four Pre-Pandemic Novels: Moshfegh, Houellebecq, Vilas, González

Authors

  • Wiosna Szukała Universidad Adam Mickiewicz de Poznań

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1344/452f.2021.25.9

Keywords:

Eremitisation | Inoperativity | Giorgio Agamben | Comparative literature

Abstract

The aim of this article is to conduct a literary and comparative analysis of four novels published at the same time, just before the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic, whose protagonists experience a crisis, a sense of temporal completion, and a widely understood exhaustion, which triggers in them the need to retreat from the world and reflect on their modes of life. This act is defined by the term “eremitisation”, as proposed by the Polish sociologist Marek Krajewski. The article examines the literary representations of this phenomenon in the texts in question, analysing its genesis, constituent elements, and the consequences brought about in each of the cases. Then, using mainly the theoretical apparatus elaborated by Giorgio Agamben—concepts such as acedia, bios-zoé relation, katargeo, inoperativity­­—the article reflects on the subversive potential of eremitisation, paying attention in particular to the tension between the categories of everyday life, inaction, and productivity. 

Author Biography

Wiosna Szukała, Universidad Adam Mickiewicz de Poznań

Departamento de Estudios Hispánicos

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Published

2021-07-30

How to Cite

Szukała, W. . (2021). Eremitisation through Agamben in Four Pre-Pandemic Novels: Moshfegh, Houellebecq, Vilas, González. 452ºF. Revista De Teoría De La Literatura Y Literatura Comparada, (25), 161–177. https://doi.org/10.1344/452f.2021.25.9

Issue

No. 25 (2021): Crisis, Pandemics, and Counter-hegemony: Reading Paradigm Shifts across World Literature

Section

Monograph

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Comparative Literature magazine 452ºF [ISSN 2013-3294] is a publishing project coordinated by Asociación Cultural 452ºF, and developed by its Editorial board.



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