| Popis: |
This study examines the literary transcription of personal and terminal illness and the diseased body. In particular, it focuses on two fin-de-siècle periods and their emblematic illnesses: AIDS in the twentieth century, and tuberculosis and syphilis in the nineteenth century. The literature of AIDS is analyzed through the works of Hervé ; Guibert (1955-1991). Gilles Barbedette (1956-1992). and Pascal de Duve (1964-1993).The Belle Époque representations of tuberculosis and syphilis are analyzed through the journals and other writings (philosophical and poetic) of Catherine Pozzi (1882-1934), the journals of Marie Bashkirtseff (1856-1884), as well as the complete works (including correspondence) of Guy de Maupassant (1850-1893).The underlying premise is that personal illness and physical degradation influenced the production of these texts. Starting with the literature of AIDS, which constitutes the first literary corpus since the the emergence of modern medicine that transcribes illness from the point of view of the patient, this study proposes a retrospective reading of Belle Époque texts in light of the unique characteristics of the literature of AIDS. In particular, this analysis explores how writing, as a means of circumscribing the disease, leads to a redefinition of subjectivity. In so doing, it draws mainly from Michel Foucault's works on the genealogy of the modern subject and the technologies of the self. Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari's schizoanalytic theory is also used in determining the strategies employed by s subject who is confronted with a fatal disease.Finally, the discursive impact of a pandemic such as AIDS in both the public and the medical domains is viewed from a Foucauldian standpoint. The profane representation of a personal and terminal illness in AIDS literature presents a challenge to the Pasteurian paradigm that dominates medical ethics and practice. |
