الآداب و اللغات
Volume 17, Numéro 2, Pages 15-36
2022-12-30

The Philosophical Revolution Within Fight Club

Authors : Ghebache Imene .

Abstract

The present article tackles the underlined revolutionary philosophy behind Chuck Palahniuk‟s work, Fight Club. It is based on Nietzsche‟s „Superman‟ philosophical concept that is eventually adopted by the main character of the novel, known as the nameless narrator as a reaction against consumerism in a postmodern capitalist context, which eventually triggers a philosophical revolution. Chuck Palahniuk is amongst the most prominent figures of transgressive writing that deals with anti-conformist and anti-consumerist characteristics within fiction. Fight Club seems to be the most suitable work that can be used as a case study for this topic since the whole story happens in a postmodern consumer setting wherein capitalism has enslaved its people, except for the main protagonist who decides to wage a revolution against his society. Ultimately, these anti-conformist and anti-consumerist behaviors from the narrator make of Fight Club the most appropriate novel amongst the other Palahniuk‟s literary works to be studied.

Keywords

Consumerism, The „Superman‟, Alienation, False consciousness, Commodification.