"Homme invisible à la fenêtre" by Monique Proulx, or the Pictorial Expression of Trauma

Abstract

Living a traumatic experiencie causes all the pillars of being to stagger, since the traumatized subject lives with a wound that has fragmented his vital chronology into a before and after. In this situation, psychology has shown that, througt art, it's possible to overcome this rupture by giving meaning to an incomprehensible experience channeling pain. This is the case of Max, paraplegic painter protagonist of the novel Homme invisible à la fenêtre (2001) by Monique Proulx, for whom painting acts as a curative chatarsis that allows him to be reborn with  each stroke of brush

This article will analyze three basic axes of the novel: in what way the trauma has an impact on the life of the protagonist and what his defence mechanisms are; the painter's look, capable of expressing the essence of each being, in the face of the limitations of mirrors, a metaphor for society; and, finally, the possibility of channeling trauma through art.