Ever been curious about all the fuss surrounding Proust's gargantuan novel? This is a weekly livestream series designed to make it as accessible as possible. It provides a close analysis of Proust's "In Search of Lost Time" discussing what makes it such a special piece of literature, how ahead of its time it was in terms of its psychological insight, and how reading it can provide great "textual healing" for the stresses of everyday life. #Proust #bookclub #literaryanalysis
Curated by: Readers of the Lost Art (18 videos)
Paul and Stuart continue their leisurely discussion of Proust's masterpiece - "Remembrance of Things Past"/"In Search of Lost Time". In this episode we take a step back from the specific section "Swann in Love" to explore how the novel as a whole can be understood in terms of René Girard 's theory "mimetic desire" - the concept that what we think are our personal and individual desires are actually formed by our imitation of other people in society. We will be taking a close look at Chapter IX - "The Worlds of Proust" - from Girard's book "Desire, Deceit, and the Novel". We show the progress we've made so far in the novel - "Combray" + "Swann in Love" can be seen as a progression from Marcel's childhood environment in which his mimetic models were supportive and nurturing - his parents, grandmother, and the spiritual familiarity of the church at Combray. By contrast, Swann's courtship of Odette in the section "Swann in Love" takes place in the context of a snakepit of mimetic desire - the backstabbing, social climbing salon of Madame Verdurin. #proust #swann #girard #remembranceofthingspast