Visages du clandestin et de l’Occidental dans Ulysse from Bagdad, d’Éric-Emmanuel Schmitt : miroirs déformants

Abstract

In this article, we propose to study the divisions that separate two types of characters in E-E Schmitt's novel, Ulysse from Bagdad : illegal immigrants and Europeans. These divisions are initially apparent in their faces, bodies, identities, living conditions, and the colours used, which seem to irrevocably oppose them. However, the distortion that affects the face of the illegal immigrant also affects that of the Westerner. The semiological and mythical approach to the characters allows us to grasp their different meanings, the most relevant of which is a decline in humanity to the detriment of the monstrous. We will focus on the characteristics that give them their humanity and those that deprive them of it.