Sharing, Meeting, Looking, Meaning, or the Animal in the Cycle "Les Petits Dieux" by Sandrine Willems

Abstract

The theme of the animal in contemporary literature responds to the need to deal with a crisis of the human, brought about by a savage globalisation and commercialisation of life, accompanied by an increasingly threatening destruction of the planet, which man is destroying in his pursuit of gain and undeserved triumphalism. Literature reacts to this destructive action of the Anthropocene and works to restore to nature (including the animal) the presence it has always had alongside man, but which man has disrespectfully underestimated. The article examines the cycle Les Petits Dieux by Sandrine Willems and focuses in particular on the representation of the relationship between the human and animal worlds. The aim is to see how Willems’ writing thematizes the idea of shared space, of the encounter, of the gaze and of the meaning that arises from the crossing of human and animal destinies. Jean-Christophe Bailly’s reflection feeds the analyses presented in the article.