Saramago’s look on performed identity

O homem duplicado

Abstract

The article discusses the representation of the double regarding the question of identity in O Homem Duplicado, by José Saramago, througg criticism of the technical reproducibility (Benjamin, 2015) and the depersonalization of the contemporary individual. While the double does question the identity in literary tradition, the novel transcends individual worries by extending it to a social context. As criticism resource, the narrative use the fantastic, by focusing on the tension between the subject and their social reality within a context of uncertainty (Roas, 2014). The protagonist represents the symptomatic individual of contemporaneity, who, destabilized by capitalist objectification and pressure for consumerism, performs a neo-narcissist identity (Lipovetsky, 2000). The sharp perspective adopted by Saramago denounces this structural identity crisis caused by utilitarian relations and the characteristic instability of contemporary society (Hall, 2006), which results in a belligerent and competitive individual, unable to accept others or any altruistic and fraternal coexistence.