"Who, What Am I?"

Tolstoy Struggles to Narrate the Self

Fiction & Literature, Literary Theory & Criticism, European, Russian, Biography & Memoir, Literary
Cover of the book "Who, What Am I?" by Irina Paperno, Cornell University Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Irina Paperno ISBN: 9780801454950
Publisher: Cornell University Press Publication: February 6, 2015
Imprint: Cornell University Press Language: English
Author: Irina Paperno
ISBN: 9780801454950
Publisher: Cornell University Press
Publication: February 6, 2015
Imprint: Cornell University Press
Language: English

"God only knows how many diverse, captivating impressions and thoughts evoked by these impressions... pass in a single day. If it were only possible to render them in such a way that I could easily read myself and that others could read me as I do..." Such was the desire of the young Tolstoy. Although he knew that this narrative utopia—turning the totality of his life into a book—would remain unfulfilled, Tolstoy would spend the rest of his life attempting to achieve it. "Who, What Am I?" is an account of Tolstoy's lifelong attempt to find adequate ways to represent the self, to probe its limits and, ultimately, to arrive at an identity not based on the bodily self and its accumulated life experience.This book guides readers through the voluminous, highly personal nonfiction writings that Tolstoy produced from the 1850s until his death in 1910. The variety of these texts is enormous, including diaries, religious tracts, personal confessions, letters, autobiographical fragments, and the meticulous accounts of dreams. For Tolstoy, inherent in the structure of the narrative form was a conception of life that accorded linear temporal order a predominant role, and this implied finitude. He refused to accept that human life stopped with death and that the self was limited to what could be remembered and told. In short, his was a philosophical and religious quest, and he followed in the footsteps of many, from Plato and Augustine to Rousseau and Schopenhauer. In reconstructing Tolstoy's struggles, this book reflects on the problems of self and narrative as well as provides an intellectual and psychological biography of the writer.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

"God only knows how many diverse, captivating impressions and thoughts evoked by these impressions... pass in a single day. If it were only possible to render them in such a way that I could easily read myself and that others could read me as I do..." Such was the desire of the young Tolstoy. Although he knew that this narrative utopia—turning the totality of his life into a book—would remain unfulfilled, Tolstoy would spend the rest of his life attempting to achieve it. "Who, What Am I?" is an account of Tolstoy's lifelong attempt to find adequate ways to represent the self, to probe its limits and, ultimately, to arrive at an identity not based on the bodily self and its accumulated life experience.This book guides readers through the voluminous, highly personal nonfiction writings that Tolstoy produced from the 1850s until his death in 1910. The variety of these texts is enormous, including diaries, religious tracts, personal confessions, letters, autobiographical fragments, and the meticulous accounts of dreams. For Tolstoy, inherent in the structure of the narrative form was a conception of life that accorded linear temporal order a predominant role, and this implied finitude. He refused to accept that human life stopped with death and that the self was limited to what could be remembered and told. In short, his was a philosophical and religious quest, and he followed in the footsteps of many, from Plato and Augustine to Rousseau and Schopenhauer. In reconstructing Tolstoy's struggles, this book reflects on the problems of self and narrative as well as provides an intellectual and psychological biography of the writer.

More books from Cornell University Press

Cover of the book The Death of Tolstoy by Irina Paperno
Cover of the book Dominion Undeserved by Irina Paperno
Cover of the book The Supplement of Reading by Irina Paperno
Cover of the book Capitalist Diversity on Europe's Periphery by Irina Paperno
Cover of the book Unions and the City by Irina Paperno
Cover of the book Deadly River by Irina Paperno
Cover of the book City of Forests, City of Farms by Irina Paperno
Cover of the book Where Three Worlds Met by Irina Paperno
Cover of the book Blood Ties by Irina Paperno
Cover of the book Everyday Piety by Irina Paperno
Cover of the book The Rise and Fall of the Miraculous Welfare Machine by Irina Paperno
Cover of the book Violence and Vengeance by Irina Paperno
Cover of the book Empire's Twin by Irina Paperno
Cover of the book Knowledge and the Ends of Empire by Irina Paperno
Cover of the book The North Korean Revolution, 1945–1950 by Irina Paperno
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy