A Centaur in Auschwitz : Reflections on Primo Levi's Thinking

Giuliani, Massimo/ Brilliant, Richard (FRW)

Lexington Books（2003/10発売）

• 製本 Paperback:紙装版/ペーパーバック版／ページ数 128 p.
• 言語 ENG
• 商品コード 9780739107423
• DDC分類 853.914

Full Description

In A Centaur in Auschwitz, Massimo Giuliani sheds new light on Primo Levi's rational, demythologizing approach to suffering and survival. Whether working in narrative or poetic form, Levi grappled with the ambiguities and complexities of innocence and guilt, triumph and loss. Giuliani presents a powerful new means to understand Levi's thought: employing the neologism of salvaction (conveying 'salvation' through one's own 'action'), Giuliani has developed a 'star of salvaction'—a diagram in the shape of a star of David, in which each of the six points leads to a strategy Levi learned for seeking meaning, and thereby salvation, in the misery of Auschwitz. This unique book, with its concise overview of Levi's expression and development as a writer, reveals Primo Levi for what he was: scientist, intellectual, Jew, and dedicated seeker of the roots of human dignity.

Contents

Chapter 1 Primo Levi in America Chapter 2 An Intellectual Autobiography: The Periodic Table as the Gateway to Understanding Primo Levi Chapter 3 Reactions: Primo Levi's Chemistry and His Fascist Education Chapter 4 "I Am a Centaur": Primo Levi's Self-Portrait Chapter 5 Number 174517: Understanding and the Conflict of Virtue Chapter 6 "More by Chance than by Virtue": The Role of Luck in Levi's Weltanschauung Chapter 7 The Star of Salvaction: The Meaning of "Being Saved" Chapter 8 Levi's Cultural Judaism: A Religion of Conscience and Freedom Chapter 9 "Consider that this has been": Primo Levi as a Poet Chapter 10 In the Ocean of Literature: The Naturalistic-Encyclopedic Style of Levi's Narrative Chapter 11 Outside of the Circle Chapter 12 Bibliography