Auto-da-Fé

Auto-da-Fé

"Auto-da-Fé" (original title "Die Blendung", "The Blinding") is a 1935 novel by Elias Canetti; the title of the English translation (by C. V. Wedgwood, 1946) refers to the burning of heretics by the Inquisition. The book was banned by the Nazis and did not become widely known until after the worldwide success of Canetti's "Crowds and Power" (1960).

The protagonist is Peter Klein, a middle-aged philologist.

He himself was the owner of the most important private library in the whole of this great city. He carried a minute portion of it with him wherever he went. His passion for it, the only one which he had permitted himself during a life of austere and exacting study, moved him to take special precautions. Books, even bad ones, tempted him easily into making a purchase. Fortunately the great number of the book shops did not open until after eight o'clock. [Elias Canetti, "Auto-da-Fé" (J. Cape, 1971), p.11]
Klein is absorbed in his studies of Chinese and fears social and physical contacts, but he is pressured into marrying his ignorant housekeeper Therese Krummholz, who robs him with the help of Benedikt Pfaff, the proto-fascist apartment manager. Klein descends to the depths of society as his brother tries in vain to cure him, reaching an apocalyptic end amid his books.

Bibliography

*William Collins Donahue, "The End of Modernism: Elias Canetti’s Auto-da-Fé" (University of North Carolina Press, 2001).

References

External links

* [http://www.ibiblio.org/uncpress/chapters/donahue_end.html Preface to Donahue, "The End of Modernism"]


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем решить контрольную работу

Look at other dictionaries:

  • auto — auto …   Dictionnaire des rimes

  • Auto- — Auto …   Deutsch Wörterbuch

  • auto- — ♦ Élément, du gr. autos « soi même, lui même » : autoanalyse, autodérision. ⊗ CONTR. Hétér(o) ; allo . ● auto Préfixe, du grec autos, soi même, lui même (autodidacte, autodéfense), ou du français automobile (autocar, auto école). auto élément, du …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • auto — [ oto ] n. f. • 1896; abrév. de automobile, souvent masc. jusqu en 1915 1920 ♦ Automobile. ⇒ voiture(plus cour.). L auto. ⇒ automobile, automobilisme. Le Salon de l auto. Faire le voyage en auto. ♢ Spécialt, cour. Autos électriques des foires.… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • Auto de fe — Saltar a navegación, búsqueda Auto de Fe, de Francisco Ricci (1683). Museo del Prado. Los autos de fe fueron una manifestación pública de la Inquisición. Si la sentencia de la Inquisición era condenatoria, implicaba que el co …   Wikipedia Español

  • auto — au‧to [ˈɔːtəʊ ǁ ˈɒːtoʊ] noun 1. [countable] MANUFACTURING another name for Automobile, especially when talking about the car industry: • auto manufacturers • Japan s auto dealerships are controlled by the producers. 2 …   Financial and business terms

  • AUTO DA FÉ — ( Act of Faith ), name given in Portugal to the ceremony of the pronouncing of judicial sentence by the Inquisition and the reconciliation of penitents: the corresponding Spanish form is Auto de Fé, the Italian Atto di Fede, etc. While the… …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • auto- — pref. Exprime a noção de próprio, de si próprio, por si próprio.   ‣ Etimologia: grego autós, ê, ó, eu mesmo, ele mesmo, mesmo   • Nota: É seguido de hífen quando o segundo elemento começa por vogal, h, r ou s (ex.: auto estima, auto hemoterapia …   Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa

  • Auto GP — Категория Одноместная Страна или регион …   Википедия

  • Auto — can be:*The Greek word for self [ [http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=auto Online Etymology Dictionary] ] *An automobile *An auto rickshaw *Short for automatic *A brand of car, Auto, from France *A form of Portuguese dramatic play *An… …   Wikipedia

  • auto — sustantivo masculino 1. Uso/registro: restringido. Automóvil: Se ha comprado un auto más potente. Ha dejado el auto en el aparcamiento. 2. Área: derecho Resolución judicial, fundada, que decide sobre cuestiones parciales o secundarias, para las… …   Diccionario Salamanca de la Lengua Española

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”