La valse aux adieux : entre le saint libertinage et le scepticisme enchanté

Plusieurs critiques, comme François Ricard et Éva Le Grand, ont mis l’accent sur le désenchantement du roman kundérien. Si nous considérons leurs propos comme justes, nous croyons aussi qu’il faut rappeler la présence et l’importance des éléments mythiques et sacrés dans le roman de Milan Kundera. Nous posons l’hypothèse que le sacré et la prose sont unis par une oscillation qui organise le parcours des personnages du roman. Dans La valse aux adieux, cette oscillation est bornée par deux objets bleus : la lumière irradiant de Bertlef et le comprimé mortel de Jakub.Several critics, such as François Ricard and Éva Le Grand, insist on the disenchantment in Milan Kundera’s works. If we agree with this point of view, we also believe that many important mythical and sacred elements are included in these novels. Our contention is that the characters’ journey is guided by an oscillation between the sacred and the prose. In the Farewell Waltz, these poles are symbolized by two blue elements : the fabulous light irradiating from Bertlef and Jakub’s fatal pill

Les romans de Milan Kundera : la dévastation du temple ?

Même si Milan Kundera insiste sur la tâche du roman qui consiste à détruire tous les mythes, nous croyons que cette entreprise ne peut y être menée à terme. Dans un monde où toute valeur transcendantale aurait été annulée, où tout aurait été banalisé, le personnage romanesque trouverait difficilement sa voie. C’est ainsi que des éléments sacrés (des mythes et des scènes bibliques), dont la présence n’est pas seulement ironique, donnent de l’ampleur à la vie des personnages de Kundera, les enrichissent d’une tradition mythique qui balise le récit. Deux personnages de L’insoutenable légèreté de l’être en sont de bons exemples : le personnage principal, Tomas, est tiraillé entre deux mythes (la naissance de Moïse et l’Androgyne du Banquet) qui organisent sa vie ; Iakov Staline, qui n’apparaît que brièvement dans le roman, y vit une tension analogue (entre sa vie misérable et son statut « divin ») qui se révèle mortifère.If Milan Kundera emphasizes that the novel should destroy all myths, such a process cannot be completed. In a world where there are no transcendental values, where everything is banal, it turns out to be very difficult for a character to find his own way. In Kundera’s novels, the use of some sacred elements (myths and scenes from the Holy Bible), which go beyond irony, enhance the characters’ life with the aura of myth or tradition. In The Unbearable Lightness of Being, two characters provide a perfect example of this situation: the main character, Tomas, is torn between two myths (the birth of Moses and The Symposium’s Androgynous) which organize his life; Iakov Staline, who appears briefly in the novel, dies of a similar tension between his miserable life and his “divine” status

Reversing a Tyranny of Cascading Shoreline-Protection Decisions Driving Coastal Habitat Loss

Abstract Shoreline hardening is a major driver of biodiversity and habitat loss in coastal ecosystems yet remains a common approach to coastal management globally. Using surveys of waterfront residents in North Carolina, USA, we sought to identify factors influencing individual shore‐protection decisions and ultimately impacting coastal ecosystems, particularly coastal wetlands. We found that neighboring shore condition was the best predictor of respondent shore condition. Respondents with hardened shorelines were more likely to have neighbors with hardened shorelines, and to report that neighbors influenced their shore‐protection choices than respondents with natural shorelines. Further, respondents who expressed climate‐change skepticism and preference for shoreline hardening were opposed to shoreline‐hardening restrictions. Despite preferring hardening, respondents ranked wetlands as highly valuable for storm protection and other ecosystem services, suggesting a disconnect between the ecological knowledge of individuals and social norms of shore‐protection decisions. However, our results also suggest that efforts to increase the installation of living shorelines have the potential to conserve and restore important coastal habitats and support biodiversity along shorelines that may otherwise be degraded by hardening. Further, encouraging waterfront‐property owners who have adopted living shorelines to recommend them to neighbors may be an effective strategy to initiate and reinforce pro‐conservation social norms