Celle qui ne berce pas : le concept bachelardien de la maternité des éléments révisé par Michel Butor

Abstract

The one who does not cradle: Gaston Bachelard’s concept of maternity of the elements revisited by Michel Butor Michel Butor’s experimental spirit leads him to challenge the optimistic vision of water and earth created by the 20th century philosopher Gaston Bachelard. In his New Novel published in 1956, L’Emploi du temps, Butor becomes particularly virulent in the face of an idea postulating the maternal aspect of two elements. He methodically questions all fundamental principles of Bachelard’s vision in order to explore the darker and more violent side of aquatic and telluric forces of nature.