The desert, between euphoria and dysphoria: a poetics of paradoxical space

Abstract

The quest for the desert, in the novel's texts, appears at first as a flight away from the world, far from noise, to seek and try to find oneself in its true identity. The unusual desert space, without landmarks, without limits, is a place of trials as opposed to certain romantic visions. Of course, the desert is painful to live, to bear. It incarnates the space of discomfort and vertigo; It is a source of danger and suffering, but paradoxically it is the symbol of refuge, serenity and happiness. Overall, our study tries to demonstrate the paradoxical phenomenon of the desert: being euphoric and dysphoric at the same time. Euphoria and dysphoria are present but not as juxtaposed predicates, which would give thymic antitheses. This is not a narrative transformation from an initial euphoric state to a final dysphoric state or vice versa. But, euphoria and dysphoria are manifested at the same time.