Jünger/Céline. Sulla Catastrofe

In their works Jünger and Céline – a part from their meetings in Paris – have always dealt with the theme of the catastrophe, even in terms of apocalypse. This catastrophe has been considered both as an historical fact – in the experience of the First and Second World War – and a cultural phenomenon represented by nihilism – the philosophy through which the twentieth century showed its nature. For the French writer the catastrophe coincides with life itself, rather, it proves the unreasonableness of life, so that the apocalypse ultimately comes to represent a sort of universal catharsis. In Jünger, both the catastrophe and the apocalypse are means to a higher revelation, through which man can recover an original and poetic way of being in the world.