The Implosion of Negativity

Dissertation im Fachbereich Nordamerikanische Literatur und Kultur der Universität des Saarlandes. The Implosion of Negativity ist die erste Monografie zu Paul Austers Frühwerk. Bis 1980 betätigte sich Auster zehn Jahre lang fast ausschließlich als Lyriker, um danach nie wieder ein Gedicht zu veröffentlichen. The Implosion of Negativity versucht zu ergründen, wie es zu diesem Bruch kam, und analysiert detailliert Austers poetisches Vorleben. Dabei werden bislang unbeachtete Einflüsse wie Martin Buber und Paul Celan zutage gefördert. Die abschließende Untersuchung von The New York Trilogy zeigt exemplarisch, welche neuen interpretatorischen Ansätze die Kenntnis von Austers vergessenem Frühwerk ermöglicht: Der untote Lyriker wird zum Phantom, das unablässig Austers Romane heimsucht - und antreibt. Die Dissertation The Implosion of Negativity ist in englischer Sprache verfasst. Der Anhang enthält eine deutsche Zusammenfassung, eine umfassende Bibliographie und ein persönliches Interview mit Paul Auster. Englischer Klappentext: For most readers and critics Paul Auster's oeuvre begins with The New York Trilogy, yet his major success as a novelist was preceded by a decade of almost obsessive devotion to poetry. The Implosion of Negativity is the first book-length study of Paul Auster's early work. From his dense, intensely lyric sequences of the early 1970s to the more discursive style of Auster's final book of poems, Facing the Music (1980), and on to his experimental prose of the early eighties, The Implosion of Negativity traces a fascinating journey through the author's formative years. Andreas Hau's dissertation begins with a detailed analysis of Auster's early long poem "Unearth", examines overlooked influences such as Paul Celan and Martin Buber, and continues with Auster's exploration of his Jewish heritage in Wall Writing, his rediscovery of the American objectivists in "Disappearances", and his encounters with the visual arts in Fragments from Cold. Subsequent chapters investigate Auster's eventual break with the lyric form and the transitional phase of "genreless" prose in White Spaces and The Invention of Solitude. The Implosion of Negativity closes with a re-examination of The New York Trilogy in the light of Auster's obscure early oeuvre and exemplifies how the undead poet has become the negative force that haunts - and fuels - Paul Auster's novels to date. "I remain very attached to the poetry I wrote," says Auster, "I still stand by it. In the final analysis, it could even be the best work I've ever done." The Implosion of Negativity sheds new light on the genesis of one of America's foremost writers. The appendix contains a comprehensive bibliography and a personal interview with Paul Auster.