Book contents
- W.G. Sebald in Context
- W.G. Sebald in Context
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Illustrations
- Notes on Contributors
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- Note on Text
- Chronology
- Abbreviations
- Works by W.G. Sebald
- Part I Biographical Aspects
- Part II The Literary Works
- Chapter 8 Unpublished Juvenilia
- Chapter 9 Film Scripts
- Chapter 10 The Prose Project
- Chapter 11 Auto-/Biography
- Chapter 12 Natural History and the Anthropocene
- Chapter 13 The Corsica Project
- Chapter 14 Poetry
- Chapter 15 The World War Project
- Chapter 16 Interviews
- Part III Themes and Influences
- Part IV Reception and Legacy
- Further Reading
- Index
Chapter 11 - Auto-/Biography
from Part II - The Literary Works
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 24 August 2023
- W.G. Sebald in Context
- W.G. Sebald in Context
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Illustrations
- Notes on Contributors
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- Note on Text
- Chronology
- Abbreviations
- Works by W.G. Sebald
- Part I Biographical Aspects
- Part II The Literary Works
- Chapter 8 Unpublished Juvenilia
- Chapter 9 Film Scripts
- Chapter 10 The Prose Project
- Chapter 11 Auto-/Biography
- Chapter 12 Natural History and the Anthropocene
- Chapter 13 The Corsica Project
- Chapter 14 Poetry
- Chapter 15 The World War Project
- Chapter 16 Interviews
- Part III Themes and Influences
- Part IV Reception and Legacy
- Further Reading
- Index
Summary
This essay discusses W.G. Sebald’s use of biographical and autobiographical elements in his literary writing. A diachronic overview retraces Sebald’s evolving use of (auto-)biographical elements from After Nature, Vertigo and The Emigrants to The Rings of Saturn and finally Austerlitz. To do so, this essay outlines, firstly, which protagonists are based on real historical figures and which source-material Sebald used for their literary transposition. Secondly, this essay highlights the relationship between the biographies of persons of historical renown – such as writers like Franz Kafka, Vladimir Nabokov and Stendhal – and those biographies taken from Sebald’s private life. These Sebald modelled after the lives of friends and acquaintances. Their inclusion with changed names – such as Paul Bereyter, Max Ferber or Jacques Austerlitz, raise questions concerning the relationship between truth and fiction. A third, central concern is the discussion of Sebald’s literary techniques and the various ways he introduces and intersects (auto-)biographical texts, photos, and illustrations to create a biographical pastiche.
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- W. G. Sebald in Context , pp. 93 - 101Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2023