Writing is a way to resist death, to leave a sign that proves that we actually lived, to fight the oblivion that could follow our last breath. This is true for every work of literature; but what happens when a narrative deals directly with death? What kind of novel does a writer compose when he finds himself on the border of his own existence – that is to say, when he is still alive but at the same time he is well aware that he will soon be dead? By investigating the possible answers to this question, I identified and defined a literary genre that is located at the intersection between creativity, death and thanatology: the “testament-novel”. Using the example of Saul Bellow’s Ravelstein, a narrative with a strong testamentary nature, I will briefly describe the characteristics of the genre.
Writing on the Border. The Testament Novel
RIMA, Matteo
2013-01-01
Abstract
Writing is a way to resist death, to leave a sign that proves that we actually lived, to fight the oblivion that could follow our last breath. This is true for every work of literature; but what happens when a narrative deals directly with death? What kind of novel does a writer compose when he finds himself on the border of his own existence – that is to say, when he is still alive but at the same time he is well aware that he will soon be dead? By investigating the possible answers to this question, I identified and defined a literary genre that is located at the intersection between creativity, death and thanatology: the “testament-novel”. Using the example of Saul Bellow’s Ravelstein, a narrative with a strong testamentary nature, I will briefly describe the characteristics of the genre.
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