Literature as a Means of Communication: A Beauvoirian Interpretation of an Ancient Greek Poem
Resumo
The aim of this article is twofold. Firstly, it explicates Simone de Beauvoir’s views on literature as a means of communication. Secondly, it draws from her theoretical framework to illuminate the discussion on mortality and death in a poem by an ancient Greek woman epigrammatist, Anyte. These two goals are combined by the fact that for Beauvoir one of the most important tasks of literature was to break down the solitude of human existence by sharing the most intimate and painful experiences, such as the death of our loved ones. I will argue that Beauvoir’s insights help us understand literature and its most profound, communicative dimension. On the other hand, taking the Beauvoirian framework to a field unknown to it before will elucidate its potential as a tool for literary analysis. Finally, the dialogue the article establishes between two women authors, Beauvoir and Anyte, will provide us with a more detailed understanding of the meaning of death in human existence and in literary communication.
O objetivo desse artigo é duplo. Primeiramente, explica as visões de Simone de Beauvoir sobre a literatura como um meio de comunicação. Em segundo lugar, baseia-se em sua estrutura teórica para elucidar a discussão sobre mortalidade e morte em um poema de uma epigramatista da Grécia antiga, Anyte. Essas duas metas se combinam pelo fato de que, para Beauvoir, uma das tarefas mais importantes da literatura é abater a solidão da existência humana ao compartilhar as experiências mais íntimas e dolorosas, como a morte de nossos entes queridos. Argumentarei que os insights de Beauvoir nos ajudam a entender a literatura e sua dimensão mais profunda de comunicação. Por outro lado, levando a estrutura beauvoiriana para um campo desconhecido a ela até então, elucidarei seu potencial como uma ferramenta para a análise literária. Por fim, o diálogo que o artigo estabelece entre duas autoras, Beauvoir e Anyte, provê-nos com um entendimento mais detalhado do sentido da morte na existência humana e na comunicação literária.
Downloads
Referências
BEAUVOIR, Simone de. Littérature et métaphysique (1948). In: BEAUVOIR, Simone de. L’existentialisme et la sagesse des Nations, Paris: Nagel, 1948, pp. 103–124. First published in Les temps modernes, no. 7 (avril 1946), pp. 1153–1163.
BEAUVOIR, Simone de. Une mort très douce. Paris: Gallimard, 1964.
BEAUVOIR, Simone de. Que peut la littérature? Intervention. (1965) In: BUIN, Yves (ed.). Que peut la littérature? Paris 10/18, Union Génerale d’Éditions, 1965, pp. 73–92.
BEAUVOIR, Simone de. The Ethics of Ambiguity. Trans. Bernard Frechtman. New York: Citadel Press, 1976.
BEAUVOIR, Simone de. Mon expérience d’écrivain. In: Les écrits de Simone de Beauvoir. Paris: Gallimard, 1979, pp. 439–457.
BEAUVOIR, Simone de. A Very Easy Death. Trans. Patrick O’Brien. London: Penguin Books, 1990.
BEAUVOIR, Simone de. Pour une morale de l’ambiguïté suivi de Pyrrhus et Cinéas. Paris: Gallimard, 2003. First publications in 1944 (Pyrrhus et Cinéas) and in 1947 (Pour une morale de de l’ambiguïté).
BEAUVOIR, Simone de. Philosophical Writings. Ed. Margaret A. Simons with Marybeth Timmermann and Mary Beth Mader. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2004a.
BEAUVOIR, Simone de. Pyrrhus and Cineas (2004b). In: BEAUVOIR, Simone de 2004a, 89–149.
BEAUVOIR, Simone de. Literature and Metaphysics (2004c). In: BEAUVOIR, Simone de 2004a, 261–177.
BEAUVOIR, Simone de. “The Useless Mouths” and Other Literary Writings. Eds. Margaret A- Simons and Marybeth Timmermann. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2011a.
BEAUVOIR, Simone de. What Can Literature Do? (s) Trans. Marybeth Timmermann. In: BEAUVOIR, Simone de 2011a, pp. 197–209.
BEAUVOIR, Simone de. My Experience as a Writer (2011c). Trans. J. Debbie Mann. In: BEAUVOIR, Simone de 2011a, pp. 282–301.
BJÖRK, Ulrika. Poetics of Subjectivity: Existence and Expressivity in Simone de Beauvoir’s Philosophy, Philosophical Studies from the University of Helsinki 21. Helsinki: Department of Philosophy, Helsinki University Print, 2008.
CALDER, Louise. Cruelty and Sentimentality: Greek Attitudes to Animals, 600–300 BC. BAR International Series 2225, Studies in Classical Archeology V. Oxford: Archaeopress, 2011.
CRITTENDEN, Paul. The Singular Universal in Sartre. Literature and Aesthetics, Vol. 8, pp. 29–42, 1998.
EPSTEIN, Russell. Consciousness, Art, and the Brain: Lessons from Marcel Proust. Consciousness and Cognition 13, pp. 213–240, 2004.
GUTZWILLER, Kathryn J. Poetic Garlands: Hellenistic Epigrams in Context. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1998.
HEIDEGGER, Martin. Sein und Zeit, Gesamtausgabe Bd. 2 (1. Abt.). Ed. Friedrich-Wilhelm von Herrmann. Frankfurt am Main; Klostermann, 1976.
HEINÄMAA, Sara. Chapter 4: The Sexed Self and the Mortal Body (2010a). In: HEINÄMAA, Sara; SCHOTT, Robin May; SONGE-MØLLER, Vigdis; THORGEIRSDOTTIR, Sigridur 2010, pp. 73–97.
HEINÄMAA, Sara. Chapter 5: Being towards Death (2010b). In: HEINÄMAA, Sara; SCHOTT, Robin May; SONGE-MØLLER, Vigdis; THORGEIRSDOTTIR, Sigridur 2010, pp. 98¬–118.
HEINÄMAA, Sara; SCHOTT, Robin May; SONGE-MØLLER, Vigdis; THORGEIRSDOTTIR, Sigridur. Birth, Death, and Femininity: Philosophies of Embodiment. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2010.
HUSSERL, Edmund. Phänomenologische Psychologie. Vorlesungen Sommersemester. 1925. Husserliana IX. Ed. Walter Biemel. Den Haag: Martinus Nijhoff, 1968.
HUSSERL, Edmund. Die Bernauer Manuskripte über das Zeitbewusstsein (1917/18), Husserliana, Band XXXIII. Eds. Rudolf Bernet; Dieter Lohmar. Dordrecht, Kluwer, 2001.
IRIGARAY, Luce. Sorcerer Love: A Reading of Plato’s Symposium, Diotima’s Speech (1994). Trans. Eleanor H. Kuykendall. In: TUANA, Nancy (ed.) 1994, pp. 181–196.
KEEN, Suzanne. Empathy and the Novel. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007.
KEEN, Suzanne: Narrative Empathy, Paragraph 2. In: HÜHN, Peter et al. (eds.): The Living Handbook of Narratology. Hamburg: Hamburg University Press. Available on: <http://hup.sub.uni-hamburg.de/lhn/index.php?title=Narrative%20Empathy&oldid=1726> Accessed on: 21 Jan 2013.
LEHTINEN, Virpi. Luce Irigaray’s Philosophy of Feminine Being: Body, Desire, Wisdom. Philosophical Studies from the University of Helsinki 29, 2010.
NYE, Andrea. Irigaray and Diotima at Plato’s Symposium (1994). In: TUANA, Nancy (ed.) 1994, pp. 197–216.
OATLEY, Keith. Meetings of Minds: Dialogue, Sympathy, and Identification, in Reading Fiction. Poetics 26, pp. 439–454, 1999.
RAYOR, Diane (ed.). Sappho’s Lyre. Trans. Diane Rayor. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1991.
RUONAKOSKI, Erika. Phenomenology and the Study of Animal Behavior (2007). In: PAINTER, Corinne; LOTZ, Christian (eds.). Phenomenology and the Non-Human Animal: At the Limits of Experience. Contributions to Phenomenology, Vol. 56. Dordrecht: Springer, 2007, pp. 75–84.
RUONAKOSKI, Erika. Eläimen tuttuus ja vieraus: Fenomenologisen empatiateorian uudelleentulkinta ja sen sovellus vieraslajisia eläimiä koskevaan kokemukseen. Helsinki: Tutkijaliitto, 2011.
SARTRE, Jean-Paul. Plaidoyer pour les intellectuels (1972a). Situations VIII. Paris: Gallimard, 1972, pp. 375–455.
SARTRE, Jean-Paul. L’universel singulier (1972b). Situations IX. Paris: Gallimard, 1972, pp. 152–190.
SARTRE, Jean-Paul. Between Existentialism and Marxism. Trans. John Matthews. London: NLB, 1974a.
SARTRE, Jean-Paul. Kierkegaard: The Singular Universal (1974b). In: Sartre 1974a, pp. 141–169.
SARTRE, Jean-Paul. A Plea for Intellectuals (1974c). In: SARTRE, 1974a, pp. 228–285.
SCHMID, Wolf: Implied Author, Paragraph 2. In: HÜHN, Peter et al. (eds.): The Living Handbook of Narratology. Hamburg: Hamburg University Press. Available on: <http://hup.sub.uni-hamburg.de/lhn/index.php?title=Implied%20Author&oldid=1991> Accessed on: 23 Jan 2013.
SIMONS, Margaret. Introduction to “Literature and Metaphysics” (2004). In: BEAUVOIR, Simone de 2004a, pp. 263–268.
TUANA, Nancy (ed.). Feminist Interpretations of Plato. University Park: Pennsylvania State University, 1994.
Downloads
Publicado
Como Citar
Edição
Seção
Licença
TERMO DE DECLARAÇÃO:
Submeto (emos) o trabalho apresentado, texto original, à avaliação da revista Sapere Aude, e concordo (amos) que os direitos autorais a ele referentes se tornem propriedade exclusiva da Editora PUC Minas, sendo vedada qualquer reprodução total ou parcial, em qualquer outra parte ou meio de divulgação impresso ou eletrônico, sem que a necessária e prévia autorização seja solicitada por escrito e obtida junto à Editora. Declaro (amos) ainda que não existe conflito de interesse entre o tema abordado e o (s) autor (es), empresas, instituições ou indivíduos.
