auerbach Mimesis

Odysseus’ Scar and Erich Auerbach’s ‘Searchlight’ — Abstract

The first chapter of E. Auerbach’s Mimesis (“Odysseus’ scar”) is an impressive tour de force in which the great German philologist lays out the principles and the tools of his method. It is also a subtle piece of militant criticism, where the primacy of the Judaic tradition over classical culture is clearly advocated. This paper investigates some of the peculiarities of Auerbach’s anticlassical stance, which may even owe something to F. Nietzsche’s Birth of Tragedy.

Aim of this paper is to trace the reasons for the interest of Auerbach for Vico,

motivating them in light of the methodological choices made for the drafting of

Mimesis. I’ll try to demonstrate how the purpose of Auerbach, in continuity with

the lesson of his teacher Troeltsch, was to find out the method for the creation of a

literary-historical synthesis, exactly what Mimesis would have been, devoid of

regionalist and nationalist conditionings. The synthesis sought is representable not

as a universal consisting of laws or classifying categories, but as a concrete

universal. Where should Auerbach begin from? The study of the New Science and of

Vico’s philology provides him the coordinates of his method of research and

exposure.

Victoria: The University of Victoria ELS Monograph Series, 1993. Pp.5-159
a study in the mimesis and diegesis, treated as two ways of revealing a story in drama on the basis of JUlius Caesar, Antony and Cleopatra and Coriolanus.Reprinted:  “Julius Caesar: Character Studies.” Shakespearean Criticism: Criticism of William Shakespeare’s Plays and Poetry, from the First Published Appraisals to Current Evaluations. Micheal L. LaBlanc, ed., Farmington Hills.MI: Thomson and Gale, 2003. Vol. 74. Pp.: 118-138 and Book Rag all chapters.

Una ricognizione sulla nozione figurale negli studi danteschi di Erich Auerbach

13-15 settembre 2018
XXII Congresso Nazionale Associazione degli Italianisti - Bologna
Natura, società e letteratura

Sala delle Armi, via Zamboni 22
Ore 9.00-12.00
Commentare l’Inferno
Coordina Alberto Casadei, Università di Pisa
Interviene Giovanni Barberi Squarotti, Università di Torino