BETWEEN EXHAUSTION AND CREATIVITY

The Burnout Society of Byung-Chul Han

by Rafael Sousa Santos

According toByung-Chul Han, there seems to be a tendency for contemporary society to evolve into a state of general exhaustion – a society of tiredness. However, although this path towards tiredness presents itself as an inevitability, it is the way that tiredness is understood and lived that will determine the character of the future society. With this paper it is intended to develop a critical reading of Byung-Chul Han’s book The Burnout Society, seeking to achieve three objectives: 1. to recognize his fundamental ideas – which will constitute the formulated thesis; 2. to identify his motivations and the followed argumentative structure; and finally, 3. to highlight his contributions to the understanding of man (both individual and social) in contemporaneity.

Rafael Sousa Santos (Portugal, 1991) graduated in Architecture by the University of Beira Interior (DECA-UBI), Portugal (2013). He has his master’s in Architecture by the University of Porto (FAUP), Portugal (2016), where he participates as intern in the Centre for Studies of the Faculty of Architecture (CEFA). Currently he is a Ph.D. candidate in Architecture at FAUP (with supervisors from FAUP, Aalto University and Aarhus University). He has also collaborated in the curricular units of Urban Economy and Urbanistics 2 of Integrated Master’s in Architecture (MIARQ) at FAUP (since 2017).