Vanishing Selves : Negotiating Selfhood in Self-Representational Works by Goethe, Sand, and Nietzsche

This study examines a series of self-representations from the 19th century (by Goethe, Sand, Nietzsche) that obstruct a confessional and psychologizing mode by diminishing the significance of the self. The theoretical inspiration is drawn from thinkers like Emmanuel Levinas, Hannah Arendt, Maurice Merleau-Ponty, and others, who give priority to the individual's close attachment to a multifaceted world. This approach will lead us to themes and concepts like'participation,''perception,''togetherness,''otherness,''corporeality,''collectivism,''publicness,'and'sociality.'Vanishing Selves displays different forms of attachment to the world and identifies the ethical and existential potential in the affirmation of a world.