A Rethinking of Celine’s Journey to The End of the Night Based on the Concept of Lived Experience- Ereignis in Heidegger’s Thought

Document Type : Research Paper

Author

PhD Candidate of philosophy, University of Tabriz, Tabriz, Iran.

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to give a new interpretation of the novel Journey to the End of the Night written by Louis Ferdinand Celine, based on Heidegger''s concept of lived experience. In the book Towards the Definition of Philosophy, Heidegger defines the lived experience as an event of appropriation. Based on this, the lived experience is not an objective thing that a human being has to face, the lived experience comes from within the human being and belongs to the human being. And on the other hand, man also belongs to its area. Heidegger''s discussions in this field are in such a way that Dasein is placed in its center. Based on this, it seems that the logical continuation of the discussion of lived experience in the book Being and Time can be followed under such issues as being-in-the-world, care and the truth. In the following, by looking at the narrative of Celine''s novel, it becomes clear that the main character of the novel, Ferdinand Bardamu, can be considered as a Dasein whose existence is from Ek-sistenz, and the existentials of Dasein, such as being-in-the-world, care and discoverer, are applied to him. With considering of Celin’s narrative and Heidegger''s theories we find out that facing lived experience is not an objective encounter, but an existential event.

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A Rethinking of Celine’s Journey to The End of the Night Based on the Concept of Lived Experience- Ereignis in Heidegger’s Thought

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References

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Journal of Philosophical Investigations
Volume 20, Issue 55 - Serial Number 55
Articles
Issue 55, Summer 2026
July 2026
Pages 1-12

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