ITALO SVEVO AND THE PSYCHOLOGICAL NOVEL (ITALY).
Item
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Title
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ITALO SVEVO AND THE PSYCHOLOGICAL NOVEL (ITALY).
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Identifier
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AAI8401899
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identifier
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8401899
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Creator
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GHELLI-SUBRIZI, LILIA.
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Contributor
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Allen McCormick
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Date
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1983
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Literature, Comparative
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Abstract
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The study of the mind, which up to the nineteenth century had been the privilege of the philosopher then became a common subject of study for the educated reader, thanks to the illuminating contributions of the psychologists. The birth of psychology as a science and its application to the novel probably date to the lectures in psychology given at Harvard by William James and at the Sorbonne by Henri Bergson. In Italy, at the turn of the century, the new concept of the anti-hero as a protagonist of the novel is presented by Italo Svevo, a writer who, because of his innovation, moved among the hostility of critics used to romantic heroes delineated in polished style. They accused him of fragmentation of language, of a lack of action, and of a grey atmosphere, not realizing that in Svevo's time even the visual arts witnessed a new awareness of the human spirit. The isolation and sense of anguish of man is rendered through a new fragmented style capable of communicating a feeling of displacement. The sketched figures of the paintings communicate anxiety and sadness never before so poignantly displayed. The artist seems to be turning towards himself, inviting others to acknowledge the complexity of the self. Svevo's characters are very often a replica of himself or acquire different characteristics mirroring the many facets of his own.;Following Schopenhauer's belief in the will as a negative force, Svevo presents protagonists taken by the force of their excessive cerebral activity; they display very little action in the external world. Using the technique of the inner monologue, the narrator shares his immediate psychological flashes with the reader, as if a camera were placed in the character's mind. Generally, Italo Svevo explored the relationship between the self and society in which the individual becomes estranged. Since then, such a dichotomy was to characterize the best of the artistic output of Italian letters.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.
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Program
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Comparative Literature
