Nouvelles approches de la ville dans la littérature française contemporaine : Thomas Clerc et Philippe Vasset

On the basis of two indecidable texts (Thomas Clerc, “Paris, musée du XXIe siècle. Le dixième arrondissement”, Gallimard 2007 and Philippe Vasset, “Un livre blanc”, Fayard 2007), we will reflect on new approaches to the city in contemporary French litterature. Clerc and Vasset, in their respective texts, suggest considering litterature as a series of practices connected with the exploration of the city (Clerc) and of the urban area (Vasset) according to the idea of an arbitrary itinerary. The image of the city whose space, subject to a permanent process of museifi cation, is constantly considered to be a work of art (Clerc) contrasts with a project of viewing the deserted areas of the city and of its surroundings as an infinite collection of “artistic installations” created in daily life (Vasset). Clerc’s and Vasset’s artistic mentality leads them to the fascination with “works of involuntary art”, both concrete signs and tangible proof of the transitional period which they try to describe systematically, following, at the same time, the principles of an axonometric city map.

Luctus est istic tuus,/ crimen novercae. Boskie i ludzkie szaleństwo Heraklesa na podstawie tragedii Eurypidesa i Seneki

One of the main, initial thesis of the article is that in the tragedies `Hρακλής μαινόμενος by Euripides and Hercules Furens by Seneca the main character falls into the madness twice. The first madness is sent by Hera/ Juno and is here defined, because of its origin, as a divine madness. The second one is so called human madness and Heracles/ Hercules is most probably overcome by it, after he has recognised, that he, driven by the involuntary fury, killed his own wife and sons. This state of the psyche of the hero is already independent from the deity and originates in such deeply human feelings like despair, anger, pain, shame. The strongly stirred hero plans to commit a suicide. According to the contemporary psychology this situation can be, because of some reasons analysed in the article, recognised as a symptom of irrationality. In the drama by Seneca Amfithryon, the father of the hero also defines the state of Hercules, who has become aware of the truth about his deeds, outright as furor. There is in the drama by Euripides, however, no reference to this second madness, which is connected with the somewhat different mentality that the drama originated in (the still kept in memory Homeric ethos and the attitudes towards the issues of honour, suicide etc. determined by it). Seneca as a stoic noticed and emphasized – although he generally also accepted the suicide – that Hercules, because of the anger, acts irrationally and, as a result, is in fact mentally unable to decide about his life and death. In the article is also presented in what an interesting way the above mentioned differences in the mentality of Euripides and Seneca manifest themselves in the case of the divine madness (among other things, the difference between Greek Lyssa and Roman Furor).