Blind reflections
Subtitle: gender in Elias Canetti's Die Blendung
By: Kristie A. Foell.
Series: Studies in Austrian literature, culture, and thought
Publisher: Ariadne Press
Published: 1994
Place of publication: Riverside, CA
Language: eng
Number of pages: 241
Subjects: Canetti, Elias, 1905- ; Sex differences in literature.; Sex in literature.; Men in literature.; Women in literature.
Description: In the first full-length analysis of gender in Die Blendung (Auto-da-Fe), Kristie Foell argues that Nobel-prize winner Elias Canetti's novel depends on deep-seated misogynies for its narrative impact. Foell asks not only how the novel represents women, but also how it presents the male protagonist's evolving view of women, how the novel comments on his views, and how Canetti has addressed issues of gender and representation in his other writings.

Foell probes the extent of the novel's dependence on early twentieth-century Viennese gender theory, particularly that of Otto Weininger, known for such acerbic statements as "Woman is man's fault." Karl Kraus and Sigmund Freud also figure in the novel's psychology of misogyny, prostitution, and murder-lust. The study concludes by investigating the relative weight of paranoia, homosexuality, misogyny, and Canetti's crowd theory in Peter Kien's final self-immolation.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 227-237) and index.