c) Tolstoy and the aporia of translation

In The Death of Ivan Illich, Tolstoy plays on an effect of displacement between the diachronic axis of langue and the synchronic of parole that we could define a "distortion of the reconfirmation process". Precisely when, with his silence and detachment from others, Ivan seeks to arouse interest and empathic participation in his own drama, the world around him firstly mistakes the feeble man’s indifference to everyday things for capricious haughtiness; then, upon the revelation of his imminent end, instead of yielding to respectful compassion, everyone withdraws with an estranging sense of disgust that takes the place of metaphysical calm. Ivan sees how his near relations take leave of the body, as though already cold, and becomes aware of how the language of gestures, silences and aposiopeses implied in every negative reply, is a clearly structured langue, within which, in the process of autogenic approval, the body’s sorrow finds a place in the form of an extremely intense, inexpressible parole. Ivan’s catharsis is entirely in this going beyond the usual meaning. The loss of faith in human communication, in langue, enables him to achieve a detachment from time with complete peace of mind. In this high point of his output, Tolstoy manages to recount the alienation of death as a gradual detachment from language. Communication is based on a misinterpretation of the meaning. Speaking means killing the meaning of life, which becomes attainable only at the fatal moment: the truth hidden in the solitude of the dying man. In this story, the reflection on death also becomes a disconsolate metaphor of translation.