Reading the interactions of Marcel and Swann with one another and with the surroundings based on taste and desire system of Eric Landowski

Eric Landowski distinguishes two different and possible forms in searching for joy and happiness based on two different forms of taste and desire: ‘the longing to enjoy from’ and ‘the longing to be enjoyed from’. In regard to ‘the longing to be enjoyed from’ which is the main topic of discussion here, he proposes two different takes of ‘enjoy’.The first take defines subject’s sense of enjoyment built on a one-way relationship of possessing the other person or worldly element. The second one describes the sense of joy based on a reciprocal interaction between the subject and the world which Landowski calls ‘to like’.He also poses two different interactions on subject’s association to the world, which one is attached to the idea of ‘use’ and the other to ‘praxis’.The present paper tries to describe and explain Landowski’s train of thought on taste and desire system and analyze the key concepts of the field as well as proving that in Proust’s significant novel, In Search of Lost Time, the interaction between Marcel and Swann and the beloved is based on possessive desire and is founded on idea of ‘using’. On the other hand, their interactions with the worldly elements are grounded on affectionate intentions established by the praxis with the world, meaning the elements are not considered as objects but subjects or semi-subjects.