Dissertation committee:
Όλγα Λασκαρίδου, Επ. Καθηγήτρια,Τμήμα Γερμανικής γλώσσας και φιλολογίας, Φιλοσοφική Αθηνών, ΕΚΠΑ
Αικατερίνη Καρακάση, Καθηγήτρια, Τμήμα Γερμανικής γλώσσας και φιλολογίας, Φιλοσοφική Αθηνών, ΕΚΠΑ
Αικατερίνη Μητραλέξη, Καθηγήτρια, Τμήμα Γερμανικής γλώσσας και φιλολογίας, Φιλοσοφική Αθηνών, ΕΚΠΑ
Εύη Πετροπούλου, Αναπλ. Καθηγήτρια, Τμήμα Γερμανικής γλώσσας και φιλολογίας, Φιλοσοφική Αθηνών, ΕΚΠΑ
Stefan Lindinger, Αναπλ. Καθηγητής,Τμήμα Γερμανικής γλώσσας και φιλολογίας,Φιλοσοφική Αθηνών, ΕΚΠΑ
Joachim Theisen, Αναπλ. Καθηγητής, Τμήμα Γερμανικής γλώσσας και φιλολογίας,Φιλοσοφική Αθηνών, ΕΚΠΑ
Κοσκινάς Νικόλαος- Ιωάννης, Επ. Καθηγητής,Τμήμα Γερμανικής γλώσσας και φιλολογίας,Φιλοσοφική Αθηνών, ΕΚΠΑ
Summary:
The thesis examines whether Thomas Bernhard's Auslöschung [Extinction] can be seen as a literary theory of decay in the sense of Emile Cioran's Precis de decomposition [Lehre vom Zerfall, A short history of decay].
So far there is no other related systematic contrasting study carried out between the works of the two authors. There are only rare and extremely brief references to the possible affinity in the overall and general spirit of thought of the two authors.
The thesis focuses on the subtitle Ein Zerfall [A Collapse/ A decay] of Thomas Bernhard's novel Auslöschung [Extinction] and demonstrates that despite the fact that it seems like a mere addition by the author that can easily be overlooked by the reader, it emerges as a potentially fundamental means of guiding his attention and a key to decoding the entire novel.
In this context, it is systematically investigated what exactly the term Zerfall can refer to, what is the semantic field of this term. The German term Zerfall, which can be translated as decay, encloses and includes various related concepts such as collapse, decomposition, sepsis, corruption.
First, the different forms of decay that appear in the novel are categorized, and examined in light of Cioran's short history of decay in the light of the following questions: What is the relationship between the concept of decay as applied in the novel and the corresponding concept in the philosophical text? Can the manifestations of sepsis be identified in both works? Do they follow the same logical pattern, do they complement each other, or are they in contrast with each other?
In each section of the thesis a comparative experiment is conducted, in which the range of meanings of the concept of decay, defined as decay, material decay, spiritual decay is examined and whether the two works together can, in a sense, constitute a complete textbook for teaching the concept of decay. The starting point of the investigative study is the obvious fear of the literal sense of decay that the protagonist of the novel Murau experiences, when he loses his family, which exceeds the fear of death in intensity. The main nuances of decay in Extinction are systematically examined and analysed in relation to Cioran's text. For example, the questions are explored, whether the ambiguous macabre ideas of immersion in the observation of decaying matter and whether decomposition processes could lead both authors step by step to recovery from the delirium of death, as there is evidence of this hypothesis in the work of both. Sickness as a factor leading to the decay of the body is a common theme in both works. In this context, it is in contrast to the notion of common sickness that sickness unto death (Todeskrankheit) is predominantly examined, while Soren Kierkegaard's corresponding term is being examined in this systematic study.
The basic view of the protagonist of Extinction is that constant movement is necessary to avoid stagnation and the resulting decay. In Cioran's philosophical text, on the other hand, continuous movement is derogatively referred to as "impulse/mania for action" [CIO 11]. In the light of Cioran's argument about the "sanctity of inaction" [CIO 59], it is studied whether there is a gap in the approach to these terms in the two works and whether the terms boredom, the appetite for action, inertia, stillness, ataraxia, acedia as carriers of the fundamental terms of quietness and restlessness are used in a similar way in both works despite their seemingly glaring and obvious differences. The question is investigated whether quietness and restlessness with their related terms are in the end really unequivocal terms in both plays or whether this is not the case after all. The comparison of the use of these terms with a systematic study of the continuous reconstruction or even deconstruction of their meaning in the two texts is the tool that helps to answer this question. The examination of these terms is intertwined and woven with threads that start from Pyrrhonian thought and reach up to the Ciorian approach to the triple dead end (dreifache Sackgasse) of human nature.
It is demonstrated that any contradiction of these terms comes from the constantly historically changing use of terms and the fact that in the novel the apparently contradictory use of terms is nothing more than the use of the same terms in the light of the differentiation of their meaning over time. In this sense, the text of Cioran's doctrine of decay proves to be a crucial aid in helping to decode the apparent contradictions in the novel and to effectively prove that they are not in real opposition.
This area of research also includes the ambiguous and related concepts of development and progress, as well as those of the primitive, the ideal and the idealized that are found in both works. In this research, the attacks of both texts on society, politics and politicians are analysed against one another. The same is done with their stormy discourses against religion and especially against religious fanaticism. The themes of fanaticism, violence, war and national socialism associated with Catholicism in the novel are analysed in relation to the respective positions on violence, religious fanaticism and the inherent prophetic nature of every human being as the root of evil, which are discussed in this philosophical work of Cioran. Furthermore, Murau's critique of the German language is analyzed in relation to Cioran's insight into the general deterioration of every language through its "maximum use/ abuse" [CIO 194]. This is explored in the context of the section, which studies the terms of development and progress.
Through a systematic study of all these issues, the question posed at the outset, whether Thomas Bernhard's novel Extinction can be considered a literary textbook/ a literary teaching of decay in the Ciorian sense, is answered in a substantiated manner.
Keywords:
Thomas Bernhard, Emile Cioran, Auslöschung, Short history of decay, decomposition
