"Elegant Hedgehog" Foucault Interpretation

The novel, whose name is "The Elegance of the Hedgehog", describing the heart journey of Mrs concierge and a little girl in the same apartment, displays a distinctive way of life. Although both have rich innermost being, they are lonely and not compatible with the real world, so they have to disguise, to curl up like a hedgehog. They try to indulge in the art and beauty as a shield against banal order, and struggle to maintain true selves in the absurd realities. Previous literary critics did not discuss in details why the main characters choose such a Hedgehog’s life style, while this thesis tries to enrich the knowing in this field, with the perspective on French philosopher Michel Foucault’s theory of power and aesthetics of existence. Freedom and liberation is an eternal topic of Literature, even of Humanities. This novel provides us a good setting to discuss this from women’s perspectives, and inspires that we can seek for freedom and liberation in the mental pursuit of beauty. In this sense, the novel and its attitudes towards life is pure and esthetic, and thus memorableThis story takes place in a respectable house. For the two main charactors Renee and Paloma, their decent and elegant attitude of life, as well as their indifference to fame and wealth, is very distinctive from modern people, whose material is abundant while spirit is lost and empty. This seems to provide an explanation why the novel is so welcomed by young people in China.The delicate stroke of the novel provides us an exquisite living scene, seeming to open an inspiring door for confused, lost modern people, and it is also the point Michel Foucault emphasized. This makes the novel a good text to illustrate Foucault’s theory of power and aesthetics of existence. Accordingly, this thesis intends to explore the living situation and spiritual pursuit of people from different backgrounds and classes.This paper begins with a brief introduction of theory of power and aesthetics of existence, which is served as a theoretical foundation for subsequent chapters. Foucault’s theory of power considers the society as a huge prison, and those who do not abide by the rules will be marginalized, or even persecuted by its authority. Full penetration and operation of micro power makes the society more and more modernized and civilized, while it also mechanizes people and deprive them of their pursuit of life’s nature. Foucault’s aesthetics of existence suggests human to seek mental freedom and inner liberation, advocating "taking care of youselves" for better existence.Subsequently, this thesis introduces the heroine, Renee, and analyzes her behavior and life style by Foucault’s theory of power. After that, this thesis tries to illustrate the deep reason why Renee chooses the hedgehog’s lifestyle, as well as the thought why she is willing to disguise and obscure herself by the analysis on environment and people around her.Then this thesis tries to introduce and analyze the little girl Paloma. Behind the seemingly happy life of this intelligent girl, her life is actually full of indifference and absurdity. Though struggling not to be contaminated, she is unable to escape the stifling realities of environment. This chapter will illustrate Paloma’s choice in depth.Finally, this thesis concludes that despite highly developed control system and inherent patterns of behavior in modern society, people still have the freedom to choose their own way of life, though often with incredible struggle and cost. But we are glad to see, even in a small building, we still have the opportunity to meet friends holding similar values, and share the same attitude towards life. All in all, we can find a way to get rid of mediocre life, by holding believes even in difficult situation, by breaking the constraint and rigid rules, by pursuing an aesthetic of existence.