Surviving Fireflies: Hope and Resilience in a Pessimistic World - Analysis of Georges Didi-Huberman's Theory

Extract

[...] Indeed, the book begins in this way: if Paradise is condemned to shine through its great light ' light », it remains that the wicked souls - in this case the earthly souls - also have a small light: the fireflies. From then on, within our humanity, the light is no longer linked to Paradise but is derived from a different transcendent power: in this case, political power. It is through this paradigm that the author explores the fireflies, that is to say, the soul light of living beings. I. Summary of the work A. [...]

[...] In fact, George Didi-Huberman relies on artistic images to counter the pessimistic character of human life developed by Walter Benjamin. Drawing on several arguments - for example, the work of Laura Waddington, who made a film about the difficulties of undocumented immigrants in Sangatte, but who, despite an inner happiness, he reports on the importance of art in disseminating these fireflies. B. From the paradigm of light to that of the image Within chapter 5 and continuing through the following chapters, the author finds a new paradigm that emerges: that of the image. [...]

[...] This is therefore a philosophical work that inscribes itself in an optimistic and salvatory current. II. Commentary on the work If the work accounts for an ambivalence between hope and pessimism, the interest of the author's reflection is inscribed in the means he proposes both to combat the ideology of his opponents but also in order to find the firefly within oneself From then on, if art is a means of accounting for a philosophy of hope, its images can allow us to question the nature of our own ethos in order to make these fireflies. [...]

[...] Thus, the work opens a window on thought, reflections, but also on the influences of the philosopher George Didi Huberman. Through a prolix mobilization of his knowledge and artistic skills, the author engages to develop themes of reflection that allow opening the subject concerning the pessimism of human life - which would be condemned to be unhappy - and demonstrates the interest of art as a source of intellectual radiation but also as a means of (re)believing in the other through oneself. [...]

[...] While the latter consider humanity as a terrain where light cannot emerge, as it is not invited and not accessible except through the skies where it emerges, George Didi-Huberman takes up the philosophical theses of Ernst Bloch and considers that there is still hope to contradict the pessimism introduced by these authors and also found in the existentialist theory of Jean-Paul Sartre. Thus, after having exposed the so-called pessimistic theories of these authors, notably by taking up the idea of the fall in value of modern beings by Walter Benjamin, the author criticizes the apocalyptic vision of Agamben that he considers to be a fiction. According to the author, this is not the case: he takes into account the artistic works to support his arguments. [...]