People without a world

the failure of civilization in the book “A Charca” by Manuel Bivar

Abstract

In this essay, I present an analysis of the book “A charca” by Manuel Bivar from the perspective of the disintegration of civilization and the rediscovery of man in a primordial, wild, and brutal nature. Possessing a furious and powerful discourse critical of the hyper-consumer society and omnipresent technology, the protagonist of the narrative isolates himself from the world, people, and his own past life in an attempt to recompose himself as an individual and ensure survival on a planet amidst chaos. In the examination of key concepts such as the dissolution of identities in the technological world, the symbolism of the end of the world, and nature in its pure state, I employ theoretical frameworks from authors such as Byung-Chul Han, Gilles Lipovetsky, Zygmunt Bauman, Christian Dunker, Ana Paula Arnaut, Pedro Eiras, among others.