Disruptionen: Sprachliche und seelische Brüche in »Sam va mieux« von Alain Damasio

Résumé En

The writer Alain Damasio (1969– ) is one of the best-known SF authors in France. Recently, Damasio has made a name for himself in the English-speaking world through various projects such as translations, blogs, animated films, video games and fan art based on his novels. In Damasio’s fiction, disruptive elements interact on a structural and narrative level. The short story »Sam va mieux« (»Sam is doing better«, first published in 2010, republished in 2021) represents a particularly complex case in terms of use and functioning of disruption. The lonely protagonist imagines a counterpart – in this case a samovar – as his son Sam. This article deals with the concept of post-apocalypse, which is evoked by linguistic means. The short story’s creative linguistic treatment of resistance to (uncomfortable) reality is intended to show that the hero’s psychological defense mechanisms are based on disruption. The treatment of disruptive conditions in »Sam va mieux« points to Damasio’s specific conception of the post-apocalyptic narrative. Sam and all the protagonist’s other imaginary children serve functions that are central to post-apocalyptic fiction as a whole: a cathartic function (providing comfort), a critical and educational function (disillusionment and warning), and and an empowering and emancipatory function (maintaining agency). »Sam va mieux« explores the question of how agency unfolds despite the catastrophe and what effects can possibly be generated as a result. One possibility is the will to deal creatively with a changing world. Human beings have the potential and the duty not to suffer the world passively.