Document Type : Original Article
Authors
1 Art University of Tehran
2 Associate Proffessor philosophy of art, university of Allameh Tabataba’i, Tehran, Iran.
Abstract
n Search of Lost Time is a novel about the workings of time. In this novel, Proust presents different dimensions of time and temporality. His approach uses a cyclical structure, rather than a linear narrative. Writing from the perspective of Marcel, the author considers the characters’ life-span – not from the inside, at the micro-level, but from the outside, as if seen through a telescope. Separately, in the second part of the book Being and Time, Martin Heidegger assumes temporality as the main element of the existential structure of Dasein. His point of departure is the two characteristics of Dasein Being-toward-death and Attaining completeness in death. The issue of death for Heidegger is a discussion of possibility and hence ‘Future’. The ultimate purpose is Being-toward-death. In anticipation for the ultimate possibility, Dasein refers to its deepest Being. The death of Dasein is an impossibility that he must face to attain human existence in its totality. But this death will not happen easily and will be accompanied by a fear that distinguishes authentic Dasein from the inauthentic. This is the fear that Marcel faces in The Search and it is only after this point that Proust, as the Marcel character, awaiting the end, and through the process of writing, attempts to immortalise and repeat the Being moments. And when he comprehends the true phenomenon of death which according to Heidegger, has remained hidden due to everyday traditions and rituals, and fundamentally reviews his relationship with death, Anxiety-awareness overcomes him and he moves towards the Dasein of becoming authentic. Thus, in the following proposal, after investigating the structure of time in The Search and the manner of its influence on the cyclical narrative of the novel, we shall turn to conforming this structure with the meaning of time and temporality in the philosophy of Heidegger. Furthermore, we shall endeavour to establish a true relationship between Marcel (the narrator of the novel) and the Dasein of Heidegger. Accordingly, the aim of this work is to delve into the idea of ‘anxiety-awareness’ with respect to death, as is in the heart of The Search – and to do this through the winding tunnels of Heidegger’s mind.
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