Identify dynamics in Frédéric Beigbeder’s novels: A synergetic analysis
Abstract
The article explores the concept of identity in Frédéric Beigbeder’s autofictional and autobiographical novels through the prism of synergetics, self-organised systems and meta-metaphor. By analysing the writer’s works, including trilogies about Marc Marronier and Octave Parango, as well as his autobiographical texts, the study examines how the processes of self-organisation and the interaction of various social, cultural and psychological factors determine the formation and evolution of characters’ identity. The application of the synergetic approach reveals the mechanisms of identity formation through the system of attractors (goals, values, aspirations) and repellers (crisis events, destructive factors), which demonstrates the dynamics of the characters’ self-identification in the conditions of modern socio-cultural changes.
Meta-metaphors in the works by Frédéric Beigbeder play an important role in the construction of layers of meaning, conveying complex aspects of individual and collective self-identification. For example, the arrest in Un roman français symbolises the awareness of his own past, the dam in Un barrage contre l’Atlantique reflects the struggle against destructive natural tendencies, the Tower of Babel in Windows on the World represents globalisation, and the cathedral in Au secours pardon illustrates existential crisis and the search for meaning. In addition, meta-metaphor serves as a way of literary transformation of biographical experience, turning the author’s personal experiences into universal models of identity comprehension.
The results of this study show that Frédéric Beigbeder’s autofictional and autobiographical works are complex multi-layered systems that combine the author’s personal experience with postmodernist writing strategies. His protagonists function as dynamic systems undergoing transformations under the influence of social, cultural and psychological factors. The study highlights the significance of self-organised systems and meta-metaphors in the modelling of identity and opens new perspectives for the analysis of postmodern novels, showing how literature reflects the processes of personal self-determination in a changing world.
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Sources for illustrations
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