Publication at Faculty of Arts |
2020
Abstract
When Hegel finds that "a darned sock is better than a torn one; but it's not so with self-consciousness", he uses the sock as a metaphor for the mind to express the negativity, the absence or the imperfection at the base of the consciousness of self, as well as other manifestations of the human psyche. He thus warns against any artificial attempt to fill, complete, or "mend" such socks of the mind.
As unexpected as it may be, this metaphor appears in many literary works. The article examines four such texts: The Mystery of the Charity of Joan of Arc by Charles Peguy, In Search of Lost Time by Marcel Proust, Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett and The Man Who Sleeps by Georges Perec.