Du simulacre à la simulation : la vérité de l’artifice dans Galatea 2.2 de Richard Powers
This paper suggests that Richard Powers’ Galatea 2.2 may be construed as an up-dated version of Ovid’s “Pygmalion” insofar as it no longer pauses the question of artifice in terms of imitation but in terms of simulation. As opposed to simple imitation – whose artifice keeps the observer out of repre...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Centre de Recherche "Texte et Critique de Texte"
2009-12-01
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| Series: | Sillages Critiques |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://journals.openedition.org/sillagescritiques/1952 |
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| Summary: | This paper suggests that Richard Powers’ Galatea 2.2 may be construed as an up-dated version of Ovid’s “Pygmalion” insofar as it no longer pauses the question of artifice in terms of imitation but in terms of simulation. As opposed to simple imitation – whose artifice keeps the observer out of representation – complex simulation places the observer inside representation and makes him an active participant in it, thus duplicating the dialogue in which the self and the world are involved. This interactive feed-back loop, which simulates our sense of being caught in the ecosystem of the world, is not only the subject matter of the novel, it is also the active principle of the text. Drawing the reader into its simulation, the text prompts him to interact with it and to feel caught in its web. This experience introduces the reader to Powers’ original approach to the potency and function of representation. |
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| ISSN: | 1272-3819 1969-6302 |