All the guilt. «Il mestiere di vivere» as a judicial court
In the initial phase of his diary – Il mestiere di vivere (1936-1938) – Cesare Pavese employs writing as a sort of judicial court, where the ego undergoes the procedures of a ruthless and accusatory self-examination. This essay aims to demonstrate how the autobiographical procedural system, primaril...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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University of Bologna
2023-12-01
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| Series: | Griseldaonline |
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| Online Access: | https://griseldaonline.unibo.it/article/view/15982 |
| _version_ | 1797373521989468160 |
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| author | Ivan Tassi |
| author_facet | Ivan Tassi |
| author_sort | Ivan Tassi |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | In the initial phase of his diary – Il mestiere di vivere (1936-1938) – Cesare Pavese employs writing as a sort of judicial court, where the ego undergoes the procedures of a ruthless and accusatory self-examination. This essay aims to demonstrate how the autobiographical procedural system, primarily employed by Rousseau and also found in the diaries of Tolstoy and Kafka, transforms the journal into a theatrical and gratuitous «self-performance». This spectacle disguises itself as an ethical conduct examination, only to culminate in a sterile representation of «maudlin self-pity». In this regard, the process of self-condemnation is confused with a narcissistic stage, where the humiliation of the diarist hides a masked and cathartic glorification of his ego, following the model observed by Baudelaire in Rousseau’s Confessions. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-08T18:51:42Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-1e8904b08a7142c7a5486858e6ffa04c |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1721-4777 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-08T18:51:42Z |
| publishDate | 2023-12-01 |
| publisher | University of Bologna |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Griseldaonline |
| spelling | doaj.art-1e8904b08a7142c7a5486858e6ffa04c2023-12-28T16:39:23ZengUniversity of BolognaGriseldaonline1721-47772023-12-0122210912610.6092/issn.1721-4777/1598214329All the guilt. «Il mestiere di vivere» as a judicial courtIvan Tassi0Eastern College Consortium (Bologna)In the initial phase of his diary – Il mestiere di vivere (1936-1938) – Cesare Pavese employs writing as a sort of judicial court, where the ego undergoes the procedures of a ruthless and accusatory self-examination. This essay aims to demonstrate how the autobiographical procedural system, primarily employed by Rousseau and also found in the diaries of Tolstoy and Kafka, transforms the journal into a theatrical and gratuitous «self-performance». This spectacle disguises itself as an ethical conduct examination, only to culminate in a sterile representation of «maudlin self-pity». In this regard, the process of self-condemnation is confused with a narcissistic stage, where the humiliation of the diarist hides a masked and cathartic glorification of his ego, following the model observed by Baudelaire in Rousseau’s Confessions.https://griseldaonline.unibo.it/article/view/15982cesare paveseconfessione letterariadiario come tribunale«mestiere di vivere»teoria del diario |
| spellingShingle | Ivan Tassi All the guilt. «Il mestiere di vivere» as a judicial court Griseldaonline cesare pavese confessione letteraria diario come tribunale «mestiere di vivere» teoria del diario |
| title | All the guilt. «Il mestiere di vivere» as a judicial court |
| title_full | All the guilt. «Il mestiere di vivere» as a judicial court |
| title_fullStr | All the guilt. «Il mestiere di vivere» as a judicial court |
| title_full_unstemmed | All the guilt. «Il mestiere di vivere» as a judicial court |
| title_short | All the guilt. «Il mestiere di vivere» as a judicial court |
| title_sort | all the guilt il mestiere di vivere as a judicial court |
| topic | cesare pavese confessione letteraria diario come tribunale «mestiere di vivere» teoria del diario |
| url | https://griseldaonline.unibo.it/article/view/15982 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT ivantassi alltheguiltilmestieredivivereasajudicialcourt |