Struggle for lifer : un néologisme lutte pour la vie De Jean Santeuil à Sodome et Gomorrhe

From the early Jean Santeuil to the late Sodom and Gomorrah, this article follows how Proust used struggle for lifer, a neologism recalling social Darwinism, which was actually coined by Alphonse Daudet. The two occurrences of the expression in Proust’s work are compared. It emerges that they show differing spelling, grammatical category, meaning and context, and this is followed up in a faulty, unstable and changing form which was quite successful at the turn of the century, together with its various evolutions (derivation, conversion) and its metamorphosis are illustrated, analysed and interpreted.