ebook The Pronoun “You” as a Refraction of the Ontological Self in Gao Xingjian’s \"Soul Mountain\" Ruth Alter, Anna Wendorff

The subject of the study is intellectually compelling and represents an attempt to make an original contribution to the existing scholarship on the work of Nobel Prize laureate Gao Xingjian. The study is distinguished by a high degree of originality, primarily owing to the consistent development of the authors’ concept of the “Ontological Self” and the process of “refraction” that is central to it. The authors do not merely reproduce existing interpretations of Soul Mountain, but propose their own coherent theoretical approach, in which “you” is interpreted not as the narrator’s conventional alter ego, but as the result of the ontological “refraction” of the subject. This approach marks a significant shift in emphasis from the psychological and narrative level to the philosophical and ontological.
From the review by Professor Carlos Dimeo

The study addresses an interesting and relevant topic within Gao Xingjian scholarship. The central thesis: that the pronoun “you” functions as a refraction of an “Ontological Self” is original and distinguishes the manuscript from much of the existing criticism, which tends to discuss “you” as shadow, alter ego, projection, or narrative device. This approach offers an original perspective on Gao Xingjian’s narrative technique and furthers existing discussions on identity, subjectivity, and pronoun usage by the interpretation of the “you” in Soul Mountain. It has a strong engagement with scholarship and constitutes a clearly identifiable contribution. This manuscript presents a thoughtful and original interpretation of Gao Xingjian’s Soul Mountain.
From the review by Professor Marie-Christine Seguin