The Picture of Dorian Gray : la passion du réel/la passion du semblant
Slavoj Zizek has recently argued that the 20th century is characterized by the « passion for the real, » which is an exact inversion of the passion for semblances : beneath our modern passion for virtual reality there lurks a longing for « the experience of the real world of material decay ». The Pi...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Presses Universitaires de la Méditerranée
2006-12-01
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| Series: | Cahiers Victoriens et Edouardiens |
| Online Access: | http://journals.openedition.org/cve/12521 |
| _version_ | 1797852818477940736 |
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| author | Annie Ramel |
| author_facet | Annie Ramel |
| author_sort | Annie Ramel |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Slavoj Zizek has recently argued that the 20th century is characterized by the « passion for the real, » which is an exact inversion of the passion for semblances : beneath our modern passion for virtual reality there lurks a longing for « the experience of the real world of material decay ». The Picture of Dorian Gray was written in a period of transition between the 19th century and the 20th, and my point is that Wilde’s aestheticism must be re-appraised in the light of Zizek’s thought. A study of doors and windows in the novel shows that Dorian commits a major transgression which consists in mistaking the « window » of fantasy for a « door » that leads beyond the pleasure principle and provides « the thrill of the Real ». Dorian’s passion is not so much for beauty and art, but for the decomposing portrait, its grey and amorphous matter, the « palpitating life substance prior to symbolic mortification » from which he derives exquisite enjoyment. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-09T19:39:19Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-ea8bc27991d145f6bb633098c1584225 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 0220-5610 2271-6149 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-09T19:39:19Z |
| publishDate | 2006-12-01 |
| publisher | Presses Universitaires de la Méditerranée |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Cahiers Victoriens et Edouardiens |
| spelling | doaj.art-ea8bc27991d145f6bb633098c15842252023-04-04T09:04:18ZengPresses Universitaires de la MéditerranéeCahiers Victoriens et Edouardiens0220-56102271-61492006-12-016410.4000/cve.12521The Picture of Dorian Gray : la passion du réel/la passion du semblantAnnie RamelSlavoj Zizek has recently argued that the 20th century is characterized by the « passion for the real, » which is an exact inversion of the passion for semblances : beneath our modern passion for virtual reality there lurks a longing for « the experience of the real world of material decay ». The Picture of Dorian Gray was written in a period of transition between the 19th century and the 20th, and my point is that Wilde’s aestheticism must be re-appraised in the light of Zizek’s thought. A study of doors and windows in the novel shows that Dorian commits a major transgression which consists in mistaking the « window » of fantasy for a « door » that leads beyond the pleasure principle and provides « the thrill of the Real ». Dorian’s passion is not so much for beauty and art, but for the decomposing portrait, its grey and amorphous matter, the « palpitating life substance prior to symbolic mortification » from which he derives exquisite enjoyment.http://journals.openedition.org/cve/12521 |
| spellingShingle | Annie Ramel The Picture of Dorian Gray : la passion du réel/la passion du semblant Cahiers Victoriens et Edouardiens |
| title | The Picture of Dorian Gray : la passion du réel/la passion du semblant |
| title_full | The Picture of Dorian Gray : la passion du réel/la passion du semblant |
| title_fullStr | The Picture of Dorian Gray : la passion du réel/la passion du semblant |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Picture of Dorian Gray : la passion du réel/la passion du semblant |
| title_short | The Picture of Dorian Gray : la passion du réel/la passion du semblant |
| title_sort | picture of dorian gray la passion du reel la passion du semblant |
| url | http://journals.openedition.org/cve/12521 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT annieramel thepictureofdoriangraylapassiondureellapassiondusemblant AT annieramel pictureofdoriangraylapassiondureellapassiondusemblant |