Overview

W. G. Sebald's writing has been widely recognized for its intense, nuanced engagement with the Holocaust, the Allied bombing of Germany in WWII, and other episodes of violence throughout history. Through his inventive use of narrative form and juxtaposition of image and text, Sebald's work has offered readers new ways to think about remembering and representing trauma. In Sebald's Vision, Carol Jacobs examines the author's prose, novels, and poems, illuminating the ethical and aesthetic questions that shaped his remarkable oeuvre. Through the trope of ""vision,"" Jacobs explores aspects of Sebald's writing and the way the author's indirect depiction of events highlights the ethical imperative of representing history while at the same time calling into question the possibility of such representation. Jacobs's lucid readings of Sebald's work also consider his famous juxtaposition of images and use of citations to explain his interest in the vagaries of perception. Isolating different ideas of vision in some of his most noted works, including Rings of Saturn, Austerlitz, and After Nature, as well as in Sebald's interviews, poetry, art criticism, and his lecture Air War and Literature, Jacobs introduces new perspectives for understanding the distinctiveness of Sebald's work and its profound moral implications.

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Reviews

Carol Jacobs's Sebald's Vision provides one of the first all-encompassing studies of W. G. Sebald. The match could not be better: one of the foremost literary scholars in the United States takes on the work of one of the best-known German-speaking authors of the twentieth century. The result is remarkable. Jacobs's careful, patient readings draw out the insights and blind spots of Sebald's influential oeuvre. -- Elke Siegel, Cornell University Attentive at every turn to the highly unusual literary practices of W. G. Sebald's texts, Jacobs asks whether such a radical stylistics can be reconciled with moral certitude, and, if not, what are the consequences? A work of great patience, stamina, and critical vigilance, Sebald's Vision is meticulously researched, beautifully written, and certain to become the standard by which future work on this important writer is measured. -- Michael G. Levine, Rutgers University In Sebald's Vision, Jacobs not only grants insight into the enigmatic source of Sebald's aesthetic authority but also provides a model of ethical reading that is grounded in the unsettling maxim she locates in his writing: 'Each time different perspectives.' -- Peter Fenves, Northwestern University The book will leave serious readers with plenty to contemplate regarding Sebald's aesthetic and moral insights. Publishers Weekly

Carol Jacobs' Sebald's Vision provides one of the first all-encompassing studies of W. G. Sebald. The match could not be better: one of the foremost literary scholars in the United States takes on the work of one of the best-known German-speaking authors of the 20th century. The result is remarkable. Jacobs' careful, patient readings draw out the insights and blind spots of Sebald's influential oeuvre. -- Elke Siegel, Cornell University

Author Information

Carol Jacobs is the Birgit Baldwin Professor of Comparative Literature and also professor of German literature at Yale University. Her books include Skirting the Ethical; In the Language of Walter Benjamin; Telling Time: Levi-Strauss, Ford, Lessing, Benjamin, de Man, Wordsworth, Rilke; and Uncontainable Romanticism: Shelley, Bronte, Kleist.

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