The Ecological Vision of J.M.G. Le Cl’zioThis book presents a close reading of four texts by Jean-Marie Gustave Le Cl’zio, guided by Gilles Deleuze’s concept of metamorphosis, ‘becoming-animal’. In his critique of anthropocentrism and Western reason, Le Cl’zio dismantles the opposition between mind and matter, language and life, developing Henri Bergson’s notion of the living, ‘le vivant’. A philosophical and ecological role is accorded poetic, sensorial expression, which is the means of communication between the multiple forms of life. For instance, the protagonist may become a bird: in their flight they form intercultural relations calling to mind the texts of ‘douard Glissant and Patrick Chamoiseau. Importantly, Le Cl’zio never divorces the poetic from the socio-political. The text Bitna, sous le ciel de S’oul, for example, unfolds against the background of the war between North and South Korea. Through the figure of the war-traumatised homeless Algerian, B’chir, The Story of Dodo emerges as one of the most powerful critics of nationalism and capitalism ever written. ISBN: 9781803740676, 1803740671
