DIRETRIZES PARA AUTORES

Abstract

Is there a border between democracy and dictatorship? From the perspective of literary studies, this question can perhaps be answered most conclusively on the basis of the working hypothesis on which this paper is based: there are not one, but thousands of boundaries that separate a democratic system of government (of the Western European type) from authoritarian, dictatorial systems and regimes. We currently cross these borders daily, and the literatures of the world are vital for our survival today precisely because they sensually remind us how precarious the certainties are to which we tend to entrust ourselves for the duration of certain periods of time. They show us not only retrospectively, but above all prospectively, to what extent it is necessary to be attentive when we move in the border area and even more in the area of tension between democracy and dictatorship. In the following, this thesis will be exemplified by the examples of Hans Robert Jauss, Michel Houellebecq and Cécile Wajsbrot.