I suffer therefore I am : portrait of the victim as hero / Pascal Bruckner ; translated by Stephen Muecke.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Bruckner, Pascal, author.

Contributor:

Muecke, Stephen, 1951- translator.

Standardized Title:

Je souffre donc je suis. English

Language:

English

French

Subjects (All):

Suffering--Psychological aspects.

Suffering.

Suffering--Social aspects.

Victims--Philosophy.

Victims.

Social change.

Survivors.

Medical Subjects:

Survivors.

Physical Description:

x, 252 pages ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

Cambridge : Hoboken, NJ : Polity Press, [2025]

Summary:

"In the West today, suffering has become a new sacred cow. Once a common feature of the human condition, it is now a special trait you can use to impress your contemporaries. It provides you with a borrowed identity, transforming you into an exceptional being who can show off on the public stage at little cost. Everyone flaunts their certificate of affliction, positioning themselves above their peers. Even those who are well-off and powerful seek to find a place in the aristocracy of the margins, creating new castes of the dispossessed at the expense of the truly unfortunate. Infused with bitterness, this cult of the victim glorifies the martyr figure and feeds into the passions of revenge and resentment. This is the message of our age: we are all victims and entitled to feel sorry for ourselves. The submissive humanity of Christianity and the arrogant humanity of modernity have now been replaced by a victimized humanity allergic to distress. Pampered, coddled, raised in fear and sensitivity, how will younger generations be able to confront the chaotic world that awaits them, marked by war, violence, terrorism and climate chaos? Who will teach them the courage to endure, to face setbacks head-on, without faltering in the face of misfortune?" -- Dust cover

Contents:

Introduction: Thucydides and Jesus Christ

Part one: facing misfortune

'One day all will be well, so runs our hope'

All kinds of awful

Suffering produces laws

The one-upmanship of martyrdom

Part two: victimist competition

The thieves of suffering

Putin, or the petty civil servant of crime

Towards a generalized 'gynocide'?

Decolonize the decolonizers?

Part three: how can we live with our wounds?

Barbarism as a cover-up?

Healing the past?

The hero, an ambiguous antithesis

Is this how men live?

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references

ISBN:

9781509567164

150956716X

OCLC:

1504595706