When Faith Wavers: Analysis of Religious Disillusionment in Marcos’s La paroisse aux serpents by Marcos Ayayi

This article explores the theme of religious disillusionment in the novel La paroisse aux serpents by Marcos Ayayi, based on the sociological, psychological and ethical theories of Luckmann, Erikson and Batson. It shows how Luckmann’s theory of the “deconstruction of religious reality” allows to interpret the evolution of the values and knowledge of the characters facing the crisis of faith. It also examines the link between identity development and religion, according to Erikson’s perspective, to understand the processes of religious disillusionment experienced by the protagonists. Finally, it explores the emotional dynamics related to altruism and compassion in a religious context, based on Batson’s research. This study helps to demystify the complex mechanisms of religious disillusionment in the specific context of Ayayi’s novel and enrich the reader’s understanding of how faith can be questioned, both in reality and in the imaginative universe created by the author. Keywords: Religion, Deconstruction, Religious Identity, Altruism, Compassion.