Transgression de l’espace et espace de la transgression dans The Human Stain de Philip Roth

Coleman Silk’s most striking—geographical, social and cultural—transgression comes from his decision to depart from New Jersey’s low-middle-class (black) districts to settle down in the cosy, right-thinking and compartmentalized (white) environment of a Massachusetts university. But the hero only su...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Gilles Mayné
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Presses Universitaires du Midi 2006-06-01
Series:Anglophonia
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journals.openedition.org/acs/2450
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1832579186303172608
author Gilles Mayné
author_facet Gilles Mayné
author_sort Gilles Mayné
collection DOAJ
description Coleman Silk’s most striking—geographical, social and cultural—transgression comes from his decision to depart from New Jersey’s low-middle-class (black) districts to settle down in the cosy, right-thinking and compartmentalized (white) environment of a Massachusetts university. But the hero only succeeds this social and cultural ascent by knowingly and, at one point, methodically rejecting his black origins. Obviously, Coleman was meant to transgress. However his betrayal catches up to him: in the middle of the political correctness of the late 1990s, this scholar, who teaches Latin and Greek, sees his entire universe turn upside down after he clumsily calls two repeatedly-absent black students spooks. He is then disavowed and banned from the university community. Reading The Human Stain, one is forced to question what is generally considered as being evil and to become aware of the extreme difficulty and yet unavoidable necessity to transgress the space of the supposed common good which locks the notions up within themselves to freeze conscious thinking and behavior.
format Article
id doaj-art-73650ae93179436cb7f69213f9ac9241
institution Kabale University
issn 1278-3331
2427-0466
language English
publishDate 2006-06-01
publisher Presses Universitaires du Midi
record_format Article
series Anglophonia
spelling doaj-art-73650ae93179436cb7f69213f9ac92412025-01-30T12:34:29ZengPresses Universitaires du MidiAnglophonia1278-33312427-04662006-06-011919720910.4000/caliban.2450Transgression de l’espace et espace de la transgression dans The Human Stain de Philip RothGilles MaynéColeman Silk’s most striking—geographical, social and cultural—transgression comes from his decision to depart from New Jersey’s low-middle-class (black) districts to settle down in the cosy, right-thinking and compartmentalized (white) environment of a Massachusetts university. But the hero only succeeds this social and cultural ascent by knowingly and, at one point, methodically rejecting his black origins. Obviously, Coleman was meant to transgress. However his betrayal catches up to him: in the middle of the political correctness of the late 1990s, this scholar, who teaches Latin and Greek, sees his entire universe turn upside down after he clumsily calls two repeatedly-absent black students spooks. He is then disavowed and banned from the university community. Reading The Human Stain, one is forced to question what is generally considered as being evil and to become aware of the extreme difficulty and yet unavoidable necessity to transgress the space of the supposed common good which locks the notions up within themselves to freeze conscious thinking and behavior.https://journals.openedition.org/acs/2450espacetransgressionhétérogèneérotismepornographietragique
spellingShingle Gilles Mayné
Transgression de l’espace et espace de la transgression dans The Human Stain de Philip Roth
Anglophonia
espace
transgression
hétérogène
érotisme
pornographie
tragique
title Transgression de l’espace et espace de la transgression dans The Human Stain de Philip Roth
title_full Transgression de l’espace et espace de la transgression dans The Human Stain de Philip Roth
title_fullStr Transgression de l’espace et espace de la transgression dans The Human Stain de Philip Roth
title_full_unstemmed Transgression de l’espace et espace de la transgression dans The Human Stain de Philip Roth
title_short Transgression de l’espace et espace de la transgression dans The Human Stain de Philip Roth
title_sort transgression de l espace et espace de la transgression dans the human stain de philip roth
topic espace
transgression
hétérogène
érotisme
pornographie
tragique
url https://journals.openedition.org/acs/2450
work_keys_str_mv AT gillesmayne transgressiondelespaceetespacedelatransgressiondansthehumanstaindephiliproth