Confessional Melancholy: W.G. Sebald’s Aesthetic Solution to the Inadequacy of Representation
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Authors
Koskoff, Theo
Issue Date
2020-01-01
Type
essay
Language
Keywords
W.G. Sebald , Theodor Adorno , Frankfurt School , melancholy , photography , literature , German Language and Literature
Modern Literature
Other Philosophy
Theory and Criticism
Alternative Title
Selected Undergraduate Works
Abstract
In the wake of W.G. Sebald’s death in 2001, scholarship on his unique, genre-bending literary texts has flourished. Though much of this scholarship has paid due attention to the theme of the inadequacy of representation, little has been written that focuses on Sebald’s persistent expressions of melancholy in relation to this theme. In this paper, I argue that Sebald’s response to the inadequacy of representation is “confessional melancholy”: he expresses anguish at that which has been lost by admitting that his own literary representation is inadequate in portraying its subjects. Using a theoretical framework borrowed from Theodor Adorno and the Frankfurt School philosophers, I show that Sebald ties the inevitable inadequacy of representation to the history of material destruction; in this sense, his expressions of confessional melancholy are ethically motivated. I then explore the effect of this theme on the nature of identity in Sebald’s texts. Finally, I analyze the incorporation of photography in Sebald’s texts and the author’s use of narrative collages to argue that Sebald primarily expresses confessional melancholy through his aesthetic form, as opposed to the content of his literature.