Lorenz Dagmar C.G. (ed.) A Companion to the Works of Elias Canetti

Camden House, 2004. — 366 p. — (Studies in German Literature, Linguistics, and Culture). — ISBN 1571132341, 9781571132345, 9781571136404.The Bulgarian-born scholar and author Elias Canetti was one of the most astute witnesses and analysts of the mass movements and wars of the first half of the 20th century. Born a Sephardic Jew and raised at first in the Bulgarian and Ladino languages, he chose to write in German. He was awarded the 1981 Nobel Prize in Literature for his oeuvre, which includes dramas, essays, diaries, aphorisms, the novel Die Blendung (Auto-da-Fé) and the long interdisciplinary treatise Masse und Macht (Crowds and Power). These works express Canetti's thought-provoking ideas on culture and the human psyche with special focus on the phenomena of power, conflict, and survival. Canetti's masterful prose, his linguistic innovations, his brilliant satires and conceits continue to fascinate scholarsand general readers alike; his challenging, genre-bending writings merge theory and literature, essay and diary entry. This Companion volume contains original essays by renowned scholars from aroundthe world who examine Canetti's writing and thought in the context of pre- and post-fascist Europe, providing a comprehensive scholarly introduction. Contributors: William C. Donahue, Anne Fuchs, HansReiss, Julian Preece, Wolfgang Mieder, Sigurd P. Scheichel, Helga Kraft, Harriet Murphy, Irene S. Di Maio, Ritchie Robertson, Johannes G. Pankau, Dagmar C.G. Lorenz, Penka Angelova and Svoboda A. Dimitrova, Michael Mack.
Dagmar C. G. Lorenz is professor of Germanic Studies at the University of Illinois-Chicago.Canetti’s Principal Works
Abbreviations of Works Frequently Cited
Dagmar C. G. Lorenz: Introduction
Canetti’s Global Significance
William Collins Donahue. Good-Bye to All That: Elias Canetti’s Obituaries
Writing and Language
Anne Fuchs: “The Deeper Nature of My German”: Mother Tongue, Subjectivity, and the Voice of the Other in Elias Canetti’s Autobiography
Hans Reiss: Elias Canetti’s Attitude to Writers and Writings
Julian Preece: Canetti and the Question of Genre
The Works: Themes and Genres
Wolfgang Miede: “The Faultiest Expressions Have the Greatest Attraction”: Elias Canetti’s Proverbial Aphorisms
Sigurd Paul Scheichl: Canetti’s Aufzeichnungen
Helga Kraft: Staging a Critique of Modernism: Elias Canetti’s Plays
Harriet Murphy: “Gute Reisende sind herzlos”: Canetti in Marrakesh
Irene Stocksieker Di Maio: Space in Elias Canetti’s Autobiographical Trilogy
Philosophy and Social Thought
Ritchie Robertson: Canetti and Nietzsche: An Introduction to Masse und Macht
Johannes G. Pankau: Images of Male and Female in Canetti’s Fictional, Autobiographical, and Theoretical Work
Dagmar C. G. Lorenz: Canetti’s Final Frontier: The Animal
Historical Contexts
Svoboda Alexandra Dimitrova and Penka Angelova: Canetti, Roustchouk, and Bulgaria: The Impact of Origin on Canetti’s Work
Michael Mack: Elias Canetti’s Response to the Shoah: Masse und MachtWorks Cited
Notes on the Contributors