Vapeurs d'argent: Jean-Philippe Toussaint et l'expérience de la modernité (original) (raw)

Contemporary French and Francophone Studies, 2015

Abstract

Abstract The notion of “creative destruction” that Marx introduced in the Communist Manifesto (and many economists and sociologists have used since) runs through Jean-Philippe Toussaint's tetralogy Marie Madeleine Marguerite de Montalte (2002–2013). According to Marshall Berman in All that is Solid Melts into Air, this notion defines the experience of modernity, which is central to Toussaint's novels. Thus, the tetralogy's protagonist, Marie–a stylist, visual artist, and savy business woman–is at the crossroads between contemporary art and money. Yet, all her creations are permeated with ideas of emptiness and dissolution. Through her, Toussaint may well redefine Baudelaire's notion of paradoxical modern beauty. In contradiction to her successful participation in the capitalist economy, however, Marie's most important characteristic is her innate aptitude to immerse herself in the elements, her “oceanic disposition.” In reminding us of the “cosmic dimension of existence” and of duration, Toussaint proposes a dynamic principle that runs counter to creative destruction.

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