Questioning Validity in Austerlitz Through Grammatical Pecularities
When I was reading Sebald’s Austerlitz I was surprised to have noticed an absence of quotation marks. Because of this lack of quotation marks, I felt that the story of Austerlitz the narrator was giving to us lacked validity. Through evocative language in the narrative structure, Austerlitz’s recollection of his past was brought to a rich […]
Loneliness and Abandonment in Austerlitz
Loneliness and abandonment are two themes that I believe pervades Sebald’s Austerlitz and help convey its striking sense of melancholy. Both of them revolve around a kind of ostracization and alienation, a sense of not belonging, which deftly encapsulates Austerlitz, who really has no idea of where his roots are before his early childhood memories … Continue reading Loneliness and Abandonment in Austerlitz
Sebald – Time, Memory, and the Human Experience
SAUDADE sau·da·de souˈdädə/ noun a feeling of longing, melancholy, or nostalgia that is supposedly characteristic of the Portuguese or Brazilian temperament. The word ‘saudade’ came to mind when understanding Austerlitz. I guess it’s because it made me think of the past and how time back then and the memories which unfold give me this certain […]
Burying the past in Sebald’s Austerlitz
In Arts One this week we read W.G. Sebald’s novel Austerlitz, and I had to miss one of our seminar meetings due to a health concern so we just had one discussion on this rich and complicated text. I wanted to share some thoughts on a few things I focused on when reading it, […]
History in Sebald’s Austerlitz
My question: How is the theme of the subjectivity of history reflected in the book I wonder if there is a link between the way Austerlitz handle information about his past and the ending of the book. History is a huge theme in this book and I wondered if the ending was an indication of […]
A Brief History of History
The most difficult question any historian has to face when preparing to delve into a new topic or event is invariably: where should I start? Let’s say we want to examine the American Revolution, where do we begin? We could start with the Boston Tea Party, which really kicked off the tensions that would eventually […]
Architecture and Memory
Yo guys, hopefully last post of all wooohooooo!! I have to say that this book dedicates particularly long passages to architecture and the description of buildings for a book that is seemingly about the holocaust. Evidently, the book’s context and deeper content reveal that Austerlitz is more than a heartfelt post-holocaust story, one of […]
Sebald the Illusionist
Hi all! Sorry my blog post is late! But nonetheless, here it is! How does the use of images affect the reader? Does it augment/heighten or decrease/contract from the imagination (of having no pictures)? Austerlitz is a work of fiction but does the use of images create a set image that did not exist before? […]
Poetry After Auschwitz
The gruesome legacy of Nazism is unavoidable in any discussion of Western (and especially German) culture. Theodor Adorno was one of many figures to address this bloody imprint, in his maxim that ‘to write poetry after Auschwitz is barbaric’. The … Continue reading →
Austerlitz & Adorno & Cabaret
Last seminar we discussed a lot of interesting things, but one of the things I found most interesting was our many varied responses to the quote from Theodor Adorno, “to write poetry after Auschwitz is barbarism”. As a class we … Continue reading →