Orestean turmoil and ethical aporias: notes towards a reinterpretation of Jonathan Littell’s "Les Bienveillantes"

Abstract

The aim of the work presented here is to offer a detailed study of the relationship between myth, testimony, and the expression of the values conveyed by the witness in the aftermath of a quintessentially traumatic event, such as the Nazi extermination of the Jews. This will be examined through the lens of the controversial novel Les Bienveillantes (2006) by Jonathan Littell, where the myth of Orestes and Electra serves to highlight not only the inner turmoil of an androgynous identity and the question of the Holocaust, but above all the crisis of the very idea of justice. This crisis is to be contextualized within the broader collapse that affected European civilization following the two World Wars. Through a selective approach, we will ultimately observe how – on the threshold of the Post-postmodern era – the reception of myth continues to explore the most ethically troubling aspects passed down through Agamemnon and Clytemnestra’s two children.