Between in- and re-action: Resistance and resilience in Stefan Zweig’s Erasmus of Rotterdam

IF 0.1 Q4 CULTURAL STUDIES

Altre Modernita-Rivista di Studi Letterari e Culturali Pub Date : 2022-09-30 DOI:10.54103/2035-7680/18690

Erika Capovilla

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

This article provides a reading of Stefan Zweig’s auto/biography Erasmus of Rotterdam (1934) as the writer’s counteraction to a situation of vulnerability and conflict. Erasmus does not just fall within the genre of the historical biography, but it also represents a “veiled autobiography” in that, by depicting a kindred soul of his, Zweig exposes himself unreservedly to the world. In contrast to most of the studies conducted so farmainly focused on the author’s implicit confession of faintheartedness through his literary alter-egothis contribution aims to demonstrate that it is not the idea of escapism, but rather that of resistance/resilience, that underpins the text. To this end, the affinities between Zweig and Erasmus in terms of their common marginality and vulnerability will be explored, in order to better understand their personal response to this status, that is, a peaceful fight carried out by means of poetic acts. According to this perspective, Zweig’s Erasmus-biography will be presented as a re-action in two different ways: on the one hand the autobiographical references disclose the writer’s concerns about National Socialism, turning his work into an artistic form of dissidence, i.e., a practice of resistance; on the other hand, the therapeutic function ascribed by Zweig to the text composition unveils it as a testimony of resilience.

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在积极与反作用之间:斯蒂芬·茨威格《鹿特丹的伊拉斯谟》中的抵抗与恢复

本文阅读了斯特凡·茨威格的汽车/传记《鹿特丹的伊拉斯谟》（1934），作为作者对脆弱和冲突局势的反击。《伊拉斯谟》不仅属于历史传记的类型，它还代表了一本“含蓄的自传”，通过描绘一个与他相似的灵魂，茨威格毫无保留地向世界展示了自己。与迄今为止进行的大多数研究相反主要集中在作者通过文学中的另一个自我对内心的隐晦忏悔这篇文章旨在证明，支撑文本的不是逃避现实的思想，而是抵抗/韧性的思想。为此，将探讨茨威格和伊拉斯谟在共同的边缘性和脆弱性方面的相似性，以更好地理解他们对这种地位的个人反应，即通过诗歌行为进行的和平斗争。根据这一视角，茨威格的《伊拉斯谟传》将以两种不同的方式呈现为一种重演：一方面，自传体参考揭示了作者对国家社会主义的担忧，将他的作品变成了一种持不同政见的艺术形式，即一种反抗的实践；另一方面，茨威格赋予文本构成的治疗功能揭示了它是一种韧性的证明。

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来源期刊

Altre Modernita-Rivista di Studi Letterari e Culturali CULTURAL STUDIES-

CiteScore

0.20

自引率

0.00%

发文量

审稿时长

5 weeks

期刊介绍： Altre Modernità (AM), a six-monthly journal, ISSN 2035-7680, features articles, discussions, interviews, translations, creative works, reviews, and bibliographical information on the cultural production of Modernity. The themes and topics tackled in each issue will take Altre Modernità to areas of the world traditionally perceived as geographically and culturally disparate, aiming at capturing the newness of the cultural paradigms that are taking shape in several places today in order to isolate, subvert, weaken or transcend the monologic discourse of mainstream culture. AM is dedicated to the study of the peripheries of the world and the peripheries of societies that act as vibrant centres of cultural production, with special attention paid to those aspects of his cultural production that offer alternative models, suggestions and tools for overcoming it. The literary discourse still represents - for Altre Modernità - the point of departure and the unavoidable hub collating explorations in contiguous cultural and artistic fields. Altre Modernità is an Open Access journal devoted to the promotion of competent and definitive contributions to literary and cultural studies knowledge. The journal welcomes also works that fall into various disciplines: cultural studies, religion, history, literature, liberal arts, law, political science, computer science and economics that deal with contemporary issues, as listed in AM CfPs. Altre Modernità uses a policy of double-blind blind review (in which both the reviewer and author identities are concealed from the reviewers, and vice versa, throughout the review process) by at least two consultants to evaluate articles accepted for consideration. Altre Modernità promotes special issues on particular topics of special relevance in the cultural debates. Altre Modernità occasionally has opportunities for Guest Editors for special issues of the journal. Altre Modernità publishes at least 2 original issues in a calendar year.