The Death of Compassion in Louis-Ferdinand Céline's Voyage au bout de la nuit
Voyage au bout de la nuit is Céline's response to the trauma of the Great War. The theme of the death of compassion is part of this response. This paper examines this theme, relating it to Céline's experience of war before showing how he manipulates it to place
the war beyond redemption and to contradict Enlightenment optimism. This theme is accompanied in Voyage by a struggle to reconnect with a basic humanity and to transcend 'le mal-être'.
Keywords: COMPASSION; GREAT WAR; LE MAL-ÊTRE; LOUIS-FERDINAND CÉ; VOYAGE AU BOUT DE LA NUIT
Document Type: Research Article
Publication date: 01 December 2001
The Irish Journal of French Studies is an annual international refereed journal published by the Association des Études Françaises et Francophones d'Irlande. Articles in English, French or Irish are welcomed on any aspect of research in the area of French and Francophone culture, society, literature and thought. All articles are freely available online.
Please note that the Print ISSN listed for the journal on this website applies to volumes 1 to 10, and part of volume 16. All other volumes are published, in their entirety, on-line only.
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