Eschatologia Marcela Prousta

Abstract

Marcel Proust’s Eschatology


In the article, the author reconstructs the idea of eternal life emerging from Marcel Proust’s series of novels In Search Of Lost Time. Both the author of the novel (Proust) and its narrator (Marcel) reject the belief in eternal life after death in the sense of an immortal soul, reincarnation, or resurrection of bodies. The only form of eternal life that they accept as possible is experiencing eternity in time; it may be found in love beyond the grave, memories of the long deceased, or in contemplating works of art and losing track of time. However, the best form of eternity is being immortalized in a literary work; while specific people (the characters’ prototypes) die, the characters themselves live for as long as the novel does. This is however, fictional and not real eternity.

Keywords: immortality, eternity, time, memory, art, Marcel Proust.