Research Catalog

Title

Blind reflections : gender in Elias Canetti's Die Blendung / Kristie A. Foell.

Author

Foell, Kristie A., 1962-

Publication

Riverside, CA : Ariadne Press, [1994], ©1994.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Holdings

Details

Description

viii, 241 pages; 23 cm.

Summary

• In the first full-length analysis of gender in Die Blendung (Auto-da-Fe), Kristie Foell argues that Nobel-prize winner Elias Canetti's novel depends on deep-seated misogynies for its narrative impact. Foell asks not only how the novel represents women, but also how it presents the male protagonist's evolving view of women, how the novel comments on his views, and how Canetti has addressed issues of gender and representation in his other writings.
• Foell probes the extent of the novel's dependence on early twentieth-century Viennese gender theory, particularly that of Otto Weininger, known for such acerbic statements as "Woman is man's fault." Karl Kraus and Sigmund Freud also figure in the novel's psychology of misogyny, prostitution, and murder-lust. The study concludes by investigating the relative weight of paranoia, homosexuality, misogyny, and Canetti's crowd theory in Peter Kien's final self-immolation.

Series Statement

Studies in Austrian literature, culture, and thought

Uniform Title

Studies in Austrian literature, culture, and thought.

Subject

• Canetti, Elias, 1905-1994
• Sex differences in literature
• Sex in literature
• Men in literature
• Women in literature

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references (p. 227-237) and index.

Contents

• Pt. I. Idealization. Ch. 1. Before Woman. Before the Novel. A Bookstore. "Vergessen Sie die Peitsche nicht!" Freud's Theories of Homosexuality. Kien's Homosexuality. Ch. 2. What Does a Man Want? Kien's Motivations for Marriage. Idealization as a Denial of Sexuality. Joining and Controlling. Love and Money -- Pt. II. "Wie bist Du, Weib?" The Constructed Reality of Women in Die Blendung. Ch. 3. Therese as Presented by the Writer. Therese's Character. Therese: Reality or Construction? Therese's Literary Precursors. Therese as Weiningerian Woman. Therese and the Great Prostitute. Woman as Life. Ch. 4. "Can You Forgive Her?" Exteriority and Canetti's Theory of Satire. Satire Where You Least Expect It. Therese's Subjectivity: Memories. Therese's Subjectivity: Dreams and Visions. What She Gets. Conclusions. Ch. 5. Other Women in Die Blendung. Karl Kraus's Revolutionary Prostitute and the "Pensionistin" Adulteresses and "Giftmorderinnen" Self-Sacrificial Women. The Strength of Sacrifice. Conclusions.
• Pt. III. Imagination. Ch. 6. Frau im Kopf. "Eine gewisse Therese existiert nicht" "Es lebe der Tod!" Viennese Psycho. Vor dem Gesetz. Ch. 7. If Not Woman ... ? A World Full of Pants. Homosexuality and Paranoia. Cherchez la femme?

ISBN

0929497791

LCCN

93039247

OCLC

• 29225068
• ocm29225068

Owning Institutions

Columbia University Libraries