Redeeming Words: Language And The Promise Of Happiness In The Stories Of Döblin And Sebald Project Muse Upcc Books

__Probing study of how literature can redeem the revelatory, redemptive powers of language.__In this probing look at Alfred Döblin’s 1929 novel __Berlin Alexanderplatz__ and the stories of W. G. Sebald, __Redeeming Words__ offers a philosophical meditation on the power of language in literature. David Kleinberg-Levin draws on the critical theory of Benjamin and Adorno; the idealism and romanticism of Kant, Hegel, Hölderlin, Novalis, and Schelling; and the nineteenth- and twentieth-century thought of Nietzsche, Heidegger, and Derrida. He shows how Döblin and Sebald—writers with radically different styles working in different historical moments—have in common a struggle against forces of negativity and an aim to bring about in response a certain redemption of language. Kleinberg-Levin considers the fast-paced, staccato, and hard-cut sentences of Döblin and the ghostly, languorous, and melancholy prose fiction of Sebald to articulate how both writers use language in an attempt to recover and convey this utopian promise of happiness for life in a time of mourning.__“Redeeming Words__ is an elegant, highly learned, and incisive exploration of how language—and thus the greatest literature of our time—both registers the experience of the loss of utopia and affirms hope by making the loss more clear. It takes as its theme the most profound reflections on the role of words in a time of abandonment and disenchantment. Kleinberg-Levin argues not only that words communicate this sense of loss but constitute it by failing to achieve total mastery and transparency and self-consciously thematizing the corruption and also affirmative power of words. At the deepest level, this study analyzes words and what the very existence of words can confer to individuals and communities.” — Peter Fritzsche, author of __The Turbulent World of Franz Göll: An Ordinary Berliner Writes the Twentieth Century__ Redeeming Words: Language and the Promise of Happiness in the Stories of Döblin and Sebald 4 Contents 10 Acknowledgments 12 Prologue 14 About Part I 33 About Part II 34 Part I: Alfred Döblin’s Berlin Alexanderplatz: Language as the Causality of Fate 62 Opening Conversation 62 Chapter 1: Fatality: Character as Fate 64 §1 The Tragic Struggle for Freedom 64 §2 Outline of the Story 68 §3 Döblin’s Prologue 70 §4 Biberkopf’s Character: Its Nature and Social Construction 72 §5 Human Nature and Fate 81 Chapter 2: Natural History 90 Chapter 3: Döblin’s Conception of the Modern Novel 98 §1 Words and Stories 98 §2 Montage: Freedom or Fate? 104 Chapter 4: The Language of Fate 108 §1 Metaphysical Force-Fields: The Archaic Lives On 108 §2 The Problematic Ending: Unfulfilled Historical Time 116 Chapter 5: Language as the Causality of Freedom 130 Chapter 6: Paradise in Words: The Promise of Happiness 138 Part II: Damals: The Melancholy Science of Memoryin W. G. Sebald’s Stories 150 Opening Conversation 150 Chapter 1: Telling Stories: A Question of Transmissibility 154 §1 Writing in Belatedness 154 §2 The Gravity of the Sentence 157 §3 Traumatized Meaning: The Remnant Between Destruction and Restitution 163 §4 Melancholy Science: Modernism as an Aesthetics of Resistance 169 §5 Redemption in Attentiveness: A Tender Empiricism 195 §6 The Question of Transmission 202 Chapter 2: Natural History: Becoming in Dissolution 208 §1 Saturn’s Scythe: Tarrying with the Negative 208 Zerstöret das Letzte die Errinerung nicht. [AE 5/1] 216 §2 Creaturely Life: Under the Judgment of Eternity 225 §3 Fatalism or Freedom? 227 Chapter 3: Of Humans and Other Animals 238 Chapter 4: As Time Goes By: Words from the Embers of Remembering 244 Chapter 5: Stoicism, Skepticism, and the Unhappy Consciousness: Sebald’s Phenomenology of Spirit 250 §1 Reading Hegel in Sebald 250 §2 Stoicism: The View from Above 251 §3 Skepticism: The Vertigo of Groundlessness, The Swindle of Permanence 258 §4 Unhappy Consciousness: Infinite Grief and the Sustaining of Loss 260 Chapter 6: Beauty : Symbol of Morality in a Phenomenology of Spirit 268 §1 Beauty and the Promise of Happiness 268 §2 Beauty and Truth 272 §3 Beauty as Allegory 278 Chapter 7: On a Journey through Disenchantment 284 Epilogue 302 Notes 310 Prologue 310 Part I: Alfred Döblin’s Berlin Alexanderplatz: Language as the Causality of Fate 321 Chapter 1: Fatality: Character as Fate 321 Chapter 2: Natural History 327 Chapter 3: Döblin’s Conception of the Modern Novel 328 Chapter 4: The Language of Fate 330 Chapter 5: Language as the Causality of Freedom 333 Chapter 6: Paradise in Words: The Promise of Happiness 334 Part II: Damals: The Melancholy Science of Memoryin W. G. Sebald’s Stories 336 Opening Conversation 336 Chapter 1: Telling Stories: A Question of Transmissibility 337 Chapter 2: Natural History: Becoming in Dissolution 351 Chapter 3: Of Humans and Other Animals 356 Chapter 4: As Time Goes By: Words from the Embers of Remembering 357 Chapter 5: Stoicism, Skepticism, and the Unhappy Consciousness: Sebald’s Phenomenology of Spirit 357 Chapter 6: Beauty: Symbol of Morality in a Phenomenology of Spirit 359 Chapter 7: On a Journey through Disenchantment 360 Epilogue 363 Bibliography 366 Index 380 Probing study of how literature can redeem the revelatory, redemptive powers of language. In this probing look at Alfred Döblin’s 1929 novel Berlin Alexanderplatz and the stories of W. G. Sebald, Redeeming Words offers a philosophical meditation on the power of language in literature. David Kleinberg-Levin draws on the critical theory of Benjamin and Adorno; the idealism and romanticism of Kant, Hegel, Hölderlin, Novalis, and Schelling; and the nineteenth- and twentieth-century thought of Nietzsche, Heidegger, and Derrida. He shows how Döblin and Sebald—writers with radically different styles working in different historical moments—have in common a struggle against forces of negativity and an aim to bring about in response a certain redemption of language. Kleinberg-Levin considers the fast-paced, staccato, and hard-cut sentences of Döblin and the ghostly, languorous, and melancholy prose fiction of Sebald to articulate how both writers use language in an attempt to recover and convey this utopian promise of happiness for life in a time of mourning. “Redeeming Words is an elegant, highly learned, and incisive exploration of how language—and thus the greatest literature of our time—both registers the experience of the loss of utopia and affirms hope by making the loss more clear. It takes as its theme the most profound reflections on the role of words in a time of abandonment and disenchantment. Kleinberg-Levin argues not only that words communicate this sense of loss but constitute it by failing to achieve total mastery and transparency and self-consciously thematizing the corruption and also affirmative power of words. At the deepest level, this study analyzes words and what the very existence of words can confer to individuals and communities.” — Peter Fritzsche, author of The Turbulent World of Franz Göll: An Ordinary Berliner Writes the Twentieth Century In This Probing Look At Alfred Döblin{u2019}s 1929 Novel Berlin Alexanderplatz And The Stories Of W. G. Sebald, Redeeming Words Offers A Philosophical Meditation On The Power Of Language In Literature. David Kleinberg-levin Draws On The Critical Theory Of Benjamin And Adorno; The Idealism And Romanticism Of Kant, Hegel, Hölderlin, Novalis, And Schelling; And The Nineteenth- And Twentieth-century Thought Of Nietzsche, Heidegger, And Derrida. He Shows How Döblin And Sebald{u2014}writers With Radically Different Styles Working In Different Historical Moments{u2014}have In Common A Struggle Against Forces Of Negativity And An Aim To Bring About In Response A Certain Redemption Of Language. Kleinberg-levin Considers The Fast-paced, Staccato, And Hard-cut Sentences Of Döblin And The Ghostly, Languorous, And Melancholy Prose Fiction Of Sebald To Articulate How Both Writers Use Language In An Attempt To Recover And Convey This Utopian Promise Of Happiness For Life In A Time Of Mourning. -- From Publisher's Website. Part I: Alfred Döblin's Berlin Alexanderplatz: Language As The Casusality Of Fate -- Part Ii: The Melancholy Science Of Memory In W. G. Sebald's Stories. David Kleinberg-levin. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. In this probing look at Alfred Dblin's 1929 novel Berlin Alexanderplatz and the stories of W. G. Sebald, Redeeming Words offers a philosophical meditation on the power of language in literature. David Kleinberg-Levin draws on the critical theory of Benjamin and Adorno; the idealism and romanticism of Kant, Hegel, Holderlin, Novalis, and Schelling; and the nineteenth- and twentieth-century thought of Nietzsche, Heidegger, and Derrida. He shows how Doblin and Sebald--writers with radically different styles working in different historical moments--have in common a struggle against forces of negativity and an aim to bring about in response a certain redemption of language. Kleinberg-Levin considers the fast-paced, staccato, and hard-cut sentences of Doblin and the ghostly, languorous, and melancholy prose fiction of Sebald to articulate how both writers use language in an attempt to recover and convey this utopian promise of happiness for life in a time of mourning.