Ulysses of Baghdad; interaction of myth and philosophy in the 21st century novel (A look at Eric Emmanuel Schmidt’s novel)

Committed novel, ruling out the idea of “art for art’s sake”, rejects the merely literary status and adopts position in the political, social, cultural or religious issues. Eric Emmanuel Schmidt, the contemporary French writer, is among those writers who, dealing with the fundamental issues of man such as life and death, disease and oldness, wealth and oppression, religion and the meaning of life, don’t treat social issues indifferently. In the novel of Ulysses of Baghdad he deals with the century’s issue in Europe, namely, migration.
In this article, we are going to show how Schmidt outspokenly questions the policies of his country vis-à-vis refugees and appears like a committed writer who is not indifferent toward the homeless who escape from war and unrest in their land to Europe in the hope of a better life. In addition, we will touch upon the relation of philosophy and myth in this work to show how these two concepts, with an ever-close relation, have a mutual engagement to build a stronger basis for Schmidt’s committed novel.