Re-creating a life: The autobiographical writings of Elias Canetti and Pablo Neruda.
Item
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Title
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Re-creating a life: The autobiographical writings of Elias Canetti and Pablo Neruda.
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Identifier
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AAI9917677
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identifier
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9917677
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Creator
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Mayer, Margarita Herrmann.
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Contributor
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Adviser: Burton Pike
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Date
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1999
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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 | Literature, Germanic | Literature, Latin American | Biography
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Abstract
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The premise of this thesis was to establish and differentiate two modes of self-reference and at the same time show the points in which these works converge and diverge in their problematics and representation. As I have chosen two such diverse personalities as Canetti and Neruda, there are immediate differences to be pointed out. This thesis, tries to identify each writer's problems through careful textual analysis.;I treated the autobiography as a re-creation of life, therefore admitting into its concept the notion of fiction. The thesis treats the problem of time in autobiography and shows how time in its very essence becomes a central and focal point in these works.;Through textual analysis I determined that Canetti's autobiography changed its theme and focus from one book to the next. I found that in Die gerettete Zunge Canetti tries to find a resolution to the intense mother-son conflict that so afflicted him. The autobiography is therefore more self-revelatory, used as a cathartic tool to bring into focus and resolution this relationship. In Die Fackel im Ohr I analyze the problem of the "grotesque" which pervades this part of the autobiography, while in Das Augenspiel the notion of "hermetic narcissism" is discussed since Canetti exhibits this tendency to reveal and at the same time stay detached of his audience.;Neruda uses the autobiography Confieso que he vivido Memorias to explain himself as a man and as an artist. As such the autobiography becomes an "Ars poetica." The thesis deals with this aspect of the autobiography. It also explains how Neruda in his use of metaphorical language changes the reality of his world to create a fiction. It deals with the different levels of "linguistic fiction," with Neruda's preoccupation to be perceived as a poet of the people, and with the very intent behind the writing of the autobiography.;Most importantly, the thesis looks at two distinct interpretations of life. It tries to show that the autobiographies are the verbal memorials of two men intent on finding unity and truth through their art, and that the ultimate goal of these two writers was to find the path to immortality through the re-creation of their lives.
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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.
