The Cult of the Self (French: Le Culte du moi) is a trilogy

Trilogy

A trilogy is a set of three works of art that are connected, and that can be seen either as a single work or as three individual works. They are commonly found in literature, film, or video games...

 of books by French author Maurice Barrès

Maurice Barrès

Maurice Barrès was a French novelist, journalist, and socialist politician and agitator known for his nationalist and antisemitic views....

, sometimes called his trilogie du moi. The trilogy was influenced by Romanticism

Romanticism

Romanticism was an artistic, literary and intellectual movement that originated in the second half of the 18th century in Europe, and gained strength in reaction to the Industrial Revolution...

, and it also made an apology

Apologetics

Apologetics is the discipline of defending a position through the systematic use of reason. Early Christian writers Apologetics (from Greek ἀπολογία, "speaking in defense") is the discipline of defending a position (often religious) through the systematic use of reason. Early Christian writers...

 of the pleasure of the senses.

Background

Barrès wrote the works while living in Italy. The first book, Under the Eyes of the Barbarians, (Sous l'œil des barbares) was published in 1888. The second work, A Free Man, (Un Homme libre), was published in 1889. The final book, The Garden of Berenice (Le Jardin de Bérénice), was published in 1891.

External links

• The Cult of the Self: Sous l'oeil des barbares, Un homme libre, and Le jardin de Bérénice (in French) via Project Gutenberg
  Project Gutenberg
  Project Gutenberg is a volunteer effort to digitize and archive cultural works, to "encourage the creation and distribution of eBooks". Founded in 1971 by Michael S. Hart, it is the oldest digital library. Most of the items in its collection are the full texts of public domain books...