1. W.G. Sebald's Austerlitz and the Problems of Representation.
- Author
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Hanssen, Ken R.
- Subjects
- *
AMBIGUITY , *COLLECTIVE memory , *AESTHETICS - Abstract
In W.G. Sebald's novel Austerlitz (2001), the eponymous protagonist's investigation into his origins induces a dynamic reinterpretation of his past and consequent reformulation of his identity that is deeply informed by cultural and historical determinants. Austerlitz and his unnamed interlocutor's conversations over a period of 30 years not only explore the nature and impact of individual and collective trauma, but also enact the inherent ambiguities of its narrative representation, raising worthwhile concerns about reliability and validity. At the confluence of personal and historical memory, where archive serves an end that is aesthetic as much as efferent, this ongoing phenomenological-hermeneutic effort at negotiating meaning ultimately rehearses the possibilities and limitations of literature as a source of knowledge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2024
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