trickster, parasite, modernity, Hermes, communication, relationality
This article argues that Michel Serres, through his life-work, is a particularly good guide to the modern world that, based on previous work, is called a Trickster Land. The point is substantiated by a close reading of two major articles of his Hermes series, on Molière’s Dom Juan as an apparition of Hermes, and on La Fontaine’s tale about the lamb and the wolf, as well as his most relevant book, The Parasite. In the figure of the parasite, as with related impersonations like the joker, Serres offers a precious portrait of the Protean protagonist of modernity, the trickster.