The Self in the Narratives of José Donoso

Download or read book The Self in the Narratives of José Donoso written by Mary Lusky Friedman and published by Edwin Mellen Press. This book was released on 2004 with total page 178 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Jose Donoso (1924-1996), the most celebrated fiction writer Chile has produced, created over a span of some 50 years, a large and remarkably various body of work. His 10 novels, 9 novellas and 4 volumes of tales take up many of the social and political questions of his day. Although each work probes a different social issue, each contains as well Donoso's lifelong meditation on the nature of the self. Jose Donoso's Conjuring of the Self explores this central theme in Donoso's writings. This study explores in rigorous detail Jose Donoso's most important theme - the perils of establishing a self. Concentrating on the Chilean's late writings - The Garden Next Door, Curfew, Taratuta, Conjeturas sobre la memoria de mi tribu and Donde van a morir los elefantes, the author infers from these little studied narratives Donoso's idiosyncratic views about selfhood. Donoso, who conceived of individual identity as compact of social role and intrapsychic form, fuses his social vision with psychoanalysis.