The Survival of Totemism in Yourcenarian Thought: A Way of Inhabiting the World

Myriam Gharbi

Abstract


Marguerite Yourcenar’s view of the relationship between physicality and interiority transcends the Cartesian divide and favours continuity between human and non-human. Although the reference to totemism remains timid, the woman of letters is interested in the tribe of Abenakis, and her library contains several books on totemic practices. It is also possible to glimpse a resurgence of
totemic thought in her discourse or in her relation to certain animals. The survival of totemism in Yourcenarian thought would thus sketch a new way of inhabiting the world.


Keywords


twentieth century novel; human and non-human; totemism; survival; ecology

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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17951/lsmll.2025.49.2.1-9
Date of publication: 2025-07-02 14:37:11
Date of submission: 2023-07-08 09:01:34


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