Il naufragio della civiltà: Tournier, Vendredi e l’impersonnalisme

Abstract

This essay focuses on the most refined rewriting of the Robinson Crusoe myth: Vendredi ou les limbes du Pacifique, Michel Tournier’s debut novel. By retracing its plot and quoting many passages, the aim of this essay is to illustrate the process of de-subjectification of the character of Robinson, a model of neurotic rationalization, in contact with Friday, a champion of genuineness and immediacy. On the basis of Deleuze’s studies and of Tournier’s first and only philosophical contribution, “L’impersonnalisme”, recently republished, the subversive value of the theoretical system underlying the novel will be highlighted as well. Furthermore, through the precious analysis by Paolo Zanotti, an example of the transgression promoted by Tournier will be provided, deepening the vision of sexuality that emerges from Robinson’s parable. A primitive and undifferentiated sexuality to prefer to the binary logic imposed by western modernity: an alternative that can disorient civilization, so much so as to "dissolve those two cramps: stupidity and wickedness".