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Suicide in the Literary Work of Cesare Pavese
Author(s) -
Simone Francesco,
Felici Fiorella,
Valerio Paolo,
Montella Patrizia
Publication year - 1977
Publication title -
suicide and life‐threatening behavior
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.544
H-Index - 90
eISSN - 1943-278X
pISSN - 0363-0234
DOI - 10.1111/j.1943-278x.1977.tb00428.x
Subject(s) - existentialism , feeling , consciousness , reflexive pronoun , psychoanalysis , period (music) , accident (philosophy) , poetry , history , literature , psychology , art , aesthetics , philosophy , social psychology , epistemology , neuroscience
On the basis of an existential analysis (Daseinanalyse), the authors consider the suicide, at age 42, of Cesare Pavese, one of the most important Italian poets and writers of the post‐World War II period. It is found that in his poems, his novels, and particularly his letters and diary the idea of suicide was present in his consciousness since adolescence; year by year it is possible to follow the development of his ideas and fantasies about suicide. Incapable of establishing authentic communication with others, Pavese narrowed his existential horizon to the point of being less and less capable of living in the world and projecting himself into the future. From these considerations it is concluded that Pavese's acute feeling of incapacity caused him to have lasting experiences of failure that brought him to view suicide as the only way to free himself from his own torment.