Proust believes that he can make a science of attraction and jealousy: we fall in love with an image apart from the person who incarnates it, and, because the image is stronger than its incarnation, we end up enslaved to it.
The question then is: who best incarnates it?
Mr Jospin wants a euro-11 that incarnates "the economic policy of the euro zone and the authority, political of course, which directs it".In other words, France wants a political body at least equal in power to the European Central Bank, which is independent of governments.
They had crystallised at the moment when John McCain picked Sarah Palin, who more than any other political figure incarnates the determination of the powerful (and lucky) to present themselves as hardworking regular folks.
I think that Mr Barroso incarnates the guilty conscience of some national leaders, who talk a good European game but know deep down that they would not tolerate a commission boss in the mould of Jacques Delors, who sought to outvote or railroad them.
So why was the mood so glum at the summit as national leaders backed Mr Barroso for another term?If he does not enthuse some leaders, it is perhaps because Mr Barroso incarnates their bad conscience about their nationally minded behaviour.
So this memorial, more than any other, incarnates the first, post-war phase of remembrance: honouring the victims.Even achieving that was not easy.
I think Mr Barroso incarnates the bad conscience of quite a few leaders, such as Angela Merkel of Germany, about how nationally-minded today's EU is.Two brilliantly clever bits leap out from the piece in Le Monde.
In addition, a particular dashavatara list popularized by the 13th-century poet Jayadeva in his song Gita Govinda names Krishna, not Vishnu, as the supreme deity who incarnates himself 10 times.
Gerwig superbly incarnates the contradictions of this insecure woman.
That we shall see when she incarnates Fiorilla tomorrow, in subtly nuanced form.
