Chłód świadomości albo Monsieur Teste o cierpieniu
The Chill of Consciousness, Or, Monsieur Teste Deals with Suffering

Summary/Abstract: This article deals with one of the major figures in the twentieth-century literature. Monsieur Teste was created by Paul Valéry and described in many of his short stories. This character appeared resulting from a peculiar literary experiment. Using an original character of this sort, Valéry resolved to describe the history of ‘pure’ consciousness. Teste is characterised by an ‘inhuman’ concentration of his mind, analytical approach to the world, and a desire to exercise complete control over his own solitary existence; an existence exposed to suffering, physical pain. A pain that will prove to be a real challenge to mathematical forms into which Monsieur Teste is willing to re-forge the reality around him.

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